Karma's Solution for Fangirls: Self Insert
by Concinnity
Summary: When a girl playing her old Tales of Symphonia game encounters an odd mishap in her living room, she awakens a bit further from home than she thought possible... Now, how does one escape from an entirely new world?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, my initiation as a ToS fanfic writer has begun. I must write (OH GOD NO) a self-insert!

So, yes. OC and I share names. She's not like me in every single aspect, but she's close enough. And yes. That is EXACTLY where my game dies. Without fail. Every time. Siiiigh… Ah well. There's always eBay, if I ever earn enough money~

* * *

I never figured I would end up doing anything other than mashing buttons that night.

* * *

"Faith! Shut the damn thing off!" My step father's irritated bellow sounded from his and my mother's bedroom, echoing through the house. I glared over my shoulder, suddenly very tempted to turn the TV up a couple notches. However, I knew that it was a school night and my little sister was (hopefully still, after that nasty shout) asleep. So, instead of rebelling and turning the volume up just to piss him off, I stood, placing the Gamecube controller on the coffee table and grabbing my earphones.

It felt weird to plug them into the large flat screen TV in our living room and I chuckled mildly as I inched my arm chair closer to the large, illuminated pause screen, picking up my controller once more, and pushing the ear buds into my ear canals. Immediately, I winced as the sounds came through much louder than the speakers and turned the volume right down to a comfortable level. Once that was done, I returned to my game.

I was about to beat Aska and Luna. For, like, the fortieth time. Damn scratched disk. Every time I beat the two of them, (thank GOD it was relatively easy because I used my common sense and leveled the crap out of my party) the big dramatic shaking would happen, the last mana link would be severed and Yuan and Kratos would run up those stairs, each exclaiming "You did it!" and "No!" I enjoyed seeing them run up together. Hell, I enjoyed them together. They were pretty…

Then the screen went black. Again. The 'Gamecube cannot read disk. Please remove the disk and turn the power off. See the Gamecube Operations Manual for assistance' screen flashed, mockingly repeating the same section of rumbling over and over in the background. My fingers twitched, clenching the Gamecube controller so hard it almost hurt. However, reminding myself that at two in the morning, in my house's family room, it was completely inappropriate to scream curses at inanimate objects, I simply put the poor squeezed controller down and leaned forward, pressing the Power button on my Wii to restart the system.

Yeah. I was playing Tales of Symphonia on the Wii. I'd gotten the sequel for Christmas and played an hour or so of it before realizing that I couldn't remember what happened in the first game. It took a couple hours, but I finally managed to fish the offending game out of a box in the corner of my room and popped it in my Gamecube, sitting regally on my entertainment system.

The large G whirled around, taking me to the systems menu for the Gamecube itself. Right… I forgot that the disc was scratched enough that my poor, old, well-loved Gamecube wouldn't read it anymore. Instead, I took it out to the Wii, which sat in the family room, unused and unloved unless we had company over or the little sister held a slumber party, which wasn't often considering how hard she was trying to be just like Justin Bieber, including turning into a boy.

Shuddering at the thought of the Biebenator, as my family lovingly calls my sister, I huffed in frustration as I hit Eject, pulling out the slightly tattered and flawed disc and inspecting it closely. That toothpaste had definitely done its job, since before I gave the game disc a good fluoride buffing, it hadn't even been able to get me into the Tower of Mana. However, now it was mocking me by giving me a whole boss battle before it decided to die. I gave in to frustration, blowing on the surface of the disc and taking the cloth my mother had lent me from her glasses case. I gave it the gentlest, most loving polishing I could and then cautiously slid the disc back into the system.

This might as well have been open heart surgery with the delicacy that I waited for the Wii to recognize that it was going to run one of its ancient childrens' disks and set it up accordingly. Once the familiar ditty began to play, I eagerly pressed start, discarding the Wiimote in favor of my bulky, purple controller.

The screen went blank… and then the Wii turned off.

"Dammit!" I snarled, shoving the controller back onto the armchair's, well, arm, and standing, turning the Wii back on via the power button on the Wiimote. _This time,_ I thought, _This time it has to work._ The little snippy Gamecube tune played again and I sighed, letting it fully set itself up. I could hear the machine in itself whirring away, trying to figure out just what madness I had fed it. Figuring it would be smart to let the game spin in there for a minute or so and hoping that in doing so, the disc would run better, I stood, grabbing my mug and taking it back into the kitchen that attached to our family room.

I rinsed the large black mug out and dumped some more hot chocolate powder into it, adding plenty of milk and boiling water. Then, going to the cupboard, I grinned as I saw my package of handmade peppermint marshmallows. I could practically hear the holy chorus singing as I yanked it out and chopped one of the marshmallows into smaller pieces, dumping the fragments of minty goodness into the mug. Finally, I was content with my drink and late night snack and I took the package of marshmallows and the mug back to my little armchair nest in the family room.

Munching on the little bundle of sugar and peppermint I had just plucked out of the plastic bag sitting in my lap, I grabbed the Wiimote and pressed the Start button once more, taking a deep breath. Then, just as I thought the game was about to laugh in my face once more by turning the Wii off again, (something the Wii had decided to do whenever it deemed my beloved disc too hard to read,) the screen flashed and began going through the opening titles. I heaved a huge sigh of relief, picking up my controller and shoving the rest of the marshmallow in my mouth.

As I chewed, I looked around me at my space. My cell phone was in my hoodie pocket, nestled right next to my iPod and my house key. I had my blanket on my lap, which was orange and had wolves on it. It had been a gift from my grandmother the Christmas after my half-wolf, Kya'tu died. I sighed softly, stroking the soft blanket with a smile as I stretched my legs out in front of me and listened to the opening music, keeping an eye out for my favorite characters, namely Sheena, Raine and Zelos. I noted I was still wearing my big goth-stomper boots with the buckles up them and I mildly wondered if they would fit in around the worlds of Symphonia. I chuckled as I thought of Genis decked out in goth clothes. The image was just too silly to try and take seriously. Not that the rest of what I wore was gothic. A Hedley concert T-shirt, blue plaid hoodie, blue skinny jeans, my raver goggles, and my charm bracelet I got from my pen pal. I had the one with the tag that said "Best." Hers was the one that said 'Friends." Finally, my shoulderbag containing my pencils, erasers, sketchbooks (I had two of them going), and a few other things sat in my lap, left there after fishing my DSi out of it earlier.

I glanced down with a soft frown as I turned on my iPod Touch, scrolling down the internet page I had open on my browser until I found what I was looking for.

Boss: Luna

Hp: 18,000

Tp: 720

Aska

Hp: 19,650

Tp: 600

Exp: 6730

Gald: 7600

The walkthrough told me to go after Aska first, and to frequently block, which I did, like always. Luna I left to Sheena and I hoped at the back of my mind that Genis would keep her busy too. I glared at Raine, watching her run around uselessly before finally picking a spot out of the way to cast one of her healing spells. God, I wished I had Zelos in this battle instead of Sheena. The game was mean in the way it MADE me use characters I didn't like to battle with. I yawned as I used a Pineapple Gel to keep Lloyd's TP up. My eyelids were starting to droop, but I shook my head stubbornly. No. I had to beat this.

Eventually, after enough sword pounding and spamming Psi Tempest and Rising Falcon, Aska falls over and I go to whack Luna around a bit. Finally, she falls over and I sigh, watching the post-battle screen pass by. I stretch my hands out as I watch Luna agree to the pact and the shaking begin. _Here we go_… I thought as Yuan and Kratos ran up. Yuan's voice rang out rather happily, while Kratos spoke with a tone of distress.

My eyes slipped closed as the anime cutscene began, but then the sounds all turned off and I let out a soft sigh. Guessing that no amount of polishing was going to fix the poor disc, I stretch my body, arching my spine and open my eyes…

… to see nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Blackness. Everywhere around me.

I immediately began shaking, hating the dark. What the hell was this? I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I couldn't see anything, not even myself, and I was so overcome by fear, I could barely even speak. In other words, I was about to wet myself.

I needed to get out.

NOW.

Then suddenly, it was as if I was in a paper bag and somebody had begun crumpling it with a vengeance. Loud crackling noises erupted around me, finally wrenching a scream from my throat. What was going on? I whimpered, biting my lip. Maybe I was having a seizure? The logical part of my body spoke up. After all, I'd been sitting awfully close to the TV, and some people don't know they're epileptic until late into life when they suddenly get an attack. I wished that that were true as I endured the pressure growing all around me, compressing my body and making me whine with discomfort. Then, out of nowhere, I felt a large thump to the back of my neck.

Even the blackness around me faded away.

* * *

Ouch. How big was the semi that hit me?

The first logical thought I had and it was about a freaking truck running me over. God, I love me when I'm morbid. Groaning softly, I gripped the fuzzy blanket around me, recognizing it as my own and taking comfort from it. However, my body had another idea. Rather than comfort, it preferred to send me up onto my knees as I heaved my dinner, dessert and hot chocolate out of my stomach.

It burned and it felt awful. Tears began to leak from the corners of my eyes as I vomited hard, my whole system taking its revenge for putting it through… whatever I'd gone through. For a few minutes, my mind shut off and all I knew was the acidic burning that came with emptying my stomach of all its contents.

I moaned weakly, shivering as I tried to get up, but was immediately shoved back to my knees by a fresh wave of nausea and dry retches. My hands scrabbled over the surface I couldn't force my eyes to focus on and I continued to retch for another good few minutes. Finally, completely spent, I gave a massive shudder, a sob breaking my throat. That… had been hell. I clumsily wipe the corners of my mouth and my lips before dragging myself away from the puddle of sick. The scent set my stomach into jitters again, and so I grabbed my blanket, pulling it over me and drifting off again, shaking and shuddering with pain.

* * *

I awoke to green light on my face. For a moment, I laid there with my eyes closed, wondering if I'd woken up in the world of Harry Potter and I was being cursed. I chuckled mirthlessly as I carefully pulled the blanket off of myself and opened my eyes.

All I saw was leaves above me.

For a moment, I stopped. Everything about me stopped. My breathing, my movement, my sight, everything except that which was absolutely vital to my life stopped. Everything except my brain, anyway. That raced. It raced faster than I could believe, retracing my steps and trying to figure out why I would be looking at leaves instead of my bedroom ceiling. Stepdad yelling, ear buds, game crashed, hot chocolate, marshmallows, boss battle, game crashed… Wait. Did it? My mind stopped and rewound itself slowly. I had closed my eyes, listening to things breaking on the game…

And then everything had stopped. An unsettling thought crossed my mind. If the game had crashed, the rumbling of the cutscene would have continued, even through that evil error screen... But all I could remember was silence. I shook, realizing that was where my memory cut off. Had I been kidnapped? It was possible, since where I lived was surrounded by forests. Perhaps some sicko had kidnapped and raped me?

I shifted my body, noticing no pain in regions that would give hint to rape. Cautiously and thankfully, I sat up and saw my blanket draped over my legs. Incredulous, I picked it up, rolling it. I'd never been to anything that would teach me how to survive in the wild, so I stood up quickly, looking around. A fetid smell wafted past my nose and I grimaced as I realized it was a very, very large puddle of vomit. Had I done that?

I kept my distance from the puddle of ruined dinner and searched the rest of the area. I quickly found my package of marshmallows and my shoulderbag and tossed my bag of sugary snacks inside, not wanting to look at them. The gremlin of illness had begun to creep up my esophagus again, tasting of acid and bile so, to distract myself, I checked my pockets. My cell phone was there, but my iPod was missing. Checking my phone, I flipped it open, immediately seeing the 'No Signal' symbol on the screen. Funny. Where could I have been taken where there wouldn't be signal?

Unless I was high in the mountains or something… But even then, the forest wouldn't be so thick. The higher the altitude, the thinner trees get as earth becomes less and less fertile. I silently thanked my Geography class and tucked my blanket under my arm, deciding I should leave before my captor returned. I set off at a slow jog, glancing around me. Thick forest as far as the eye could see. However, I was lucky, swiftly stumbling across a path wide enough for a car and a half to drive down it. I took to the path, taking in the sights as I continued to move.

Even if I didn't know where I was, for some reason, I felt at peace. If it turned out I was in a band of forest just outside of town, then that would be fine. I could head home, let my mother and stepfather know I was safe, and return to life as usual. No problem at all.

I sighed, continuing to fuel myself with these happy thoughts as I ran. However, the edge of the forest was nowhere in sight and by what I guessed was an hour later, running was no longer an option, even at a slow jog. I panted, moving off the path to sit under a nearby tree and rest a moment. As I stared blankly out at the path in front of me, I frowned. Why hadn't a car passed yet? I was running down a quiet forest road, perhaps between two big properties, but still… It was a road, and I'd been on it for about an hour.

Surely there would have been at least one car.

Foreboding began to grow in my stomach again, but I shut my eyes tight and willed it down. No. No no no no no. I was always the pessimist. This time, I couldn't just let myself drown in self pity. My life was at stake this time. Getting up cautiously, I headed back toward the road, ready to continue on.

Noises made me stop, freezing up in fear. A low, sharp growl echoed from behind me, then a snarl sounded and I blinked, very, very cautiously turning around. My heart began to thump in my chest as I laid eyes upon the rather large wolf crouched on the stump not far behind me. I took a soft, shaky breath, my mind flooding with warning signals and telling me to run. However, something else broke through the panic and my lesson on how to calm a wild dog came back to me.

My granddad had taught me using his wolf, Mishka. The dog came up to my waist as a twelve-year old, but he had been well trained and was quite the big love-puppy. I remembered the lessons clearly.

First step: turning head to the side. It showed that a dog was not comfortable in the situation. Carefully, I turned my head slightly, inclining it away from the wolf and being sure not to look it in the eye. The wolf's growling quieted slightly as it watched me move and my heart leapt as I thought that perhaps it was working.

Second step: Yawn. Yeah, it sounded funny, but dogs do it when they're uncomfortable and scared, and it's a well-recognized signal. I opened my jaw wide, letting air rush in, and then out. I added a squeak to the end, for hopeful good measure. Knowing winging it was dangerous around a wild animal, I wished immediately that I hadn't and prayed that the wolf wouldn't become angrier.

Third step: Turn the body away. Still averting my eyes, knowing that looking at that dog would only provoke it, I carefully angled my body away from it until it was more beside me than in front. By this point, the growling had halted completely and I could feel my heart start to slow. I just needed to convince this dog that I wasn't trying to impose upon its territory.

Oh, god.

My nose was beginning to tickle.

I scrunched up my nose in an attempt not to, but…

"WAH-CHOO!" the sneeze echoed around the forest and I ended up doubled over, glancing up in fear as the wolf suddenly jumped forward, snarling dangerously again. Dammit! I was so close! My body went into immediate panic mode and I screamed, lunging into a full sprint away from the animal that skidded on dead leaves, regained its bearings and then began to chase me again. My boots were heavy and I whined, knowing they would slow me down. I could hear the wolf's quiet footfalls behind me, but it's growls and snarls weren't so quiet, nor was its maddened panting.

Tears leaked out of my eyes again as I realized the situation. I couldn't outrun a wolf! Certainly not such a big one, either! I had no chance. Nothing I could do… I stumbled over a log and through a patch of sharp plants, and then stopped as I noticed something a little different.

A thorn patch. Surely I could hide in there! Darting toward it, I stopped and skid under a layer of thorns, scratching my arms, legs and cheek in the process. I army crawled backward as far as I could go and then stopped, simply waiting for my attacker. The padding of paws came closer and closer and finally, just as my heart felt like it was going to burst, the wolf let out a wistful howl at obviously not being able to locate its prey. I sighed softly and watched as those paws moved away from my hiding place, feeling very relieved, and also very warm. What exactly was this sensation?

Pushing the warmth out of my mind, I watched the wolf move around the area, sniffing here, growling there… It wasn't planning on leaving, however. It could clearly still smell me and would stay until I had to come out. I bit my lip, shaking my head. This dog wasn't dumb! I closed my eyes, quietly hoping the wolf would grow bored. However, this wasn't the case, and a least an hour, if not two, later, there I was, clutching my bag to me, in my comfort clothes, burning up in a thorn bush in some forest in the middle of nowhere…

The wolf had long since settled down, keeping a watchful eye out around it and I resisted the urge to sigh impatiently. Meanwhile, my temperature was only getting higher, and I wondered if I was being smothered by the bush I was lying under. Closing my eyes for a moment couldn't hurt, could it? I took a deep breath and let my eyelids fall shut, simply listening to the things around me.

The quiet was soothing, despite being able to hear my pursuers relaxed panting, but then I frowned as I picked up on a strange noise.

Thun, thun, thun, thun…

It sounded like footsteps. Footsteps that were steadily growing closer.

Thun, thun, thun, thun, thun.

I heard the wolf shift and I realized I didn't have the energy to open my eyes. I was so exhausted, and so I decided I would just listen.

Thun, thun, thun, thun, thuh…

Grrr…

Shwing!

Suddenly, the wolf gave another howl, this one sounding… off somehow. Then, I heard a thump of something hitting the ground. Confused, I frowned slightly, trying to open my eyes. However, the energy was fast leaving me. I finally gave into the insistent urges of sleep, just as I heard branches moving.

I could have sworn I felt sunlight on my face.

* * *

My head hurt… In fact, all of me hurt. I immediately decided 'hurt' was a word of many faces. 'Hurt' could mean sting, or it could mean ache. It could mean striking pain, or even burning pain… I realized that of all of these, I had at least the first two. Instead of opening my eyes, I whined softly and shifted on the bed. Immediately, I heard a shift mirror my own of a person somewhere beside me. I froze up and pretended to be asleep again.

"Relax. You're safe now, kid." A handsome sounding voice reassured me. I almost smiled in relief at the sound of it, but then remembered I was pretending to sleep and refrained. "Found you in the forest. You were pretty messed up and… Well… Rest up. You'll feel better soon."

The shifting changed to footsteps, moving away and getting quieter before a door was closed with a click. Cautiously, I opened my eyes and frowned as I saw only an off grey color. Reaching up, I discovered it was a damp cloth placed over my eyes and forehead. Once I'd removed it, the room became visible and I looked around. Nice, well furnished but… strange somehow. I sat up slowly, grunting as I realized that the aches in my body were worse than I'd thought. I also noticed I was completely naked, save for a white, cotton night gown and my underwear.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, before yelping and clutching my head, which was now successfully throbbing. "Owowowow…" I winced, but then blinked, looking up from my sudden pain as a door was opened and somebody appeared in the doorway.

"So you _were_ awake." The stranger said with an amused smile as he tilted his head. I drank in his appearance, raising an eyebrow. Was it just me, or did he look a bit… weird? _He does_… I thought, as I noticed his bright red hair and handsome features, wearing a brown tunic-like shirt that was accompanied by crisp black pants, red boots and a bandana would around his head clumsily. He completed the look with a thick black eyepatch that covered what I supposed was where his left eye wasn't. What… the hell? I blinked at him once, twice, then gulped comically. Had I been dropped straight onto a pirate ship or something?

"I… I-I… Where…" I began, realizing I had a voice and I should probably use it while this male still appeared friendly. The red-headed stranger came over to the bedside, walking softly until he was crouched next to me and gently placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, friend. You're in the city of Meltokio. Capital of the Fooji continent. Most importantly, you are safe. I swear." He said softly and kindly to me. I stared at him, my brain clicking and whirring away. Meltokio…? Had… Had he said Meltokio?

"M-Me… Mel… Meltokio?" I nearly sprang out of the bed, but then decided otherwise as my head bludgeoned me back down to the mattress with a series of throbbing, aching pains to somewhere right behind my eyes. "What do you mean Meltokio? I was… I was…" I shivered, looking at this stranger in dismay. And then, what do you know?

The room spun.

My head grew heavy.

The stranger went in and out of focus.

And I blacked out…

* * *

Aaaand boom! Chapter one is finished! An impressive length for me. I never write this much!

If you liked, PLEASE review and tell me how much? Reviews let me know that people are actually reading my story, and I love knowing that. It makes me all warm and tingly inside!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yay! Chapter two! These are not taking long to write at all. I PRAY that my enthusiasm for this story keeps up. I would love to be able to actually complete a multi-chaptered fic without too much trouble. My attention span = less than a gnat's… Ick.

Hum. What to say about the last chapter. Well, first thing's first. Those 'how to calm a wild dog' trick? Totally true. And my grandpa really did teach me. Using his pet wolf. Who was, like, 8 feet, nose to tail tip… I miss Mishka. That dog and I used to play pony…

And no. The man that found Faith is not Zelos. Her description of his clothes should be enough to disprove that.

Oh, and a disclaimer, since I forgot on the last chapter…

Tales of Symphonia does not belong to me in any way, shape, or form. If it did, Kratos would be gay for Yuan, Zelos would be gay for Lloyd and Regal and Genis would have a very cutesy scene where Regal tries to teach Genis to ballroom dance, but they have trouble because of the handcuffs and height difference.

OMG. If anyone wants to write that as a oneshot, I will… God, I don't even know, but I'll love you FOREVER. IMAGINE THE FLUFFINESS OF IT.

Alright. Enough of my ramblings! On with ze story!

* * *

Air… I needed it, just as much as any other human on the planet. I couldn't survive without it. I needed it. I needed it. I needed it!

I couldn't find it.

My eyes flashed wildly, but all I saw was blue. Artificial blue, made by chemical paints and sealed, so the paint wouldn't poison the water any more than the chlorine already did. I wouldn't have wanted to go by chemical poisoning from water at the public pool. Way too under dramatic. Then again, drowning wasn't proving to be fun either. I flailed, trying to figure out which way was up, but in water it's all the same. Kicking legs earned me nothing but what I figured in my terrified, oxygen-deprived, disoriented state was going in circles.

I remembered why I hated swimming in that last instant as I opened my mouth, screamed using the last wisps of air hiding in my lungs, and then the pressure closed around me.

Everything went black.

* * *

I awoke in a terror, sweating, shaking and immediately recalling what had happened just before I had passed out. Meltokio. That stranger had said I was safe, in Meltokio…

But that was completely and totally impossible, wasn't it? Tales of Symphonia was a video game! Nothing more, nothing less! A great, fun to play, two-disc video game!

Sitting up, I glanced around the room. It was painted a maroon color. Comforting and warm, I knew instinctively that the red hues in it would make me hungry later on, when my stomach was done flipping around. I looked down, realizing I was in a lavish four-poster bed, with dark brown bedding and I was still in the thin cotton nightgown. I couldn't see anything that gave away a modern setting, like a television or a radio. No stereo, or even telephone…

I shuddered, still taking in my surroundings. I glanced over and noticed I could see out the window on the far wall. It looked out onto a busy, but neat, street with people in gorgeous and expensive-looking clothes hanging about the area. Women with hair done up and wearing pretty dresses with many skirts primped and polished, all standing about and gossiping together. Each had venom in her eyes and I imagined it was also behind her voice. However, I was sure her friends would ignore the poisonous tones and simply laugh at the tasteful jokes that actually hinted at mockery, humiliation and manipulation.

Men passed each other, dressed nicely in suit-like outfits, or, as I feared, in guard's armor, looking handsome and determined. I swallowed, realizing my mouth was dry. Why was this… Was I really…?

But what about home?

I stopped, thinking about the last things I could remember from home. I recalled fondly playing my Wii as a Gamecube while tucked away in a corner of the family room in my armchair… I remembered my stepfather yelling at me to turn the TV down a bit, and going to make hot chocolate… then playing and… had I passed out? I couldn't remember anything past the game crashing. At all. Damn!

I shook my head, trying to stop shaking, but it wouldn't work. How had I gotten here? How was I going to get home? I curled up in the bed, biting my lip softly. I already missed my tiny twig of a naggy mom and my large, imposing, but almost teddy bear-like stepdad. I missed my long, blonde-haired, rocker dad and my little Bieber wannabe sister. I wanted them back. I couldn't stay here! The tears started flowing, accompanied by shuddering sobs I'd long learned to keep silent. I don't know how long I laid in that bed, weeping for what I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back, but I know that by the time I was done, everything ached, as it often did when I cried, and I was hiccupping constantly, my diaphragm launching a revenge against this emotional outburst. However, even once I was done crying, I stayed curled up in that tight ball, completely concealed by the thin blanket that covered my body, and just shook, my hiccups slowly beginning to die down.

Eventually, they stopped completely. However, my shaking remained, even as I heard a door open downstairs and boots come clumping up the stairs that were somewhere outside the door. Finally, that door creaked open and I saw a familiar face. The redheaded man stepped into the room again, looking concerned.

"Hey…" He said softly. "You doing alright?" Treading softly, the man came around to the bedside and gently peeled back the blanket, so I was visible. His eyes widened as he saw me. "Oh, honey… Why've you been crying? What's the matter?" he asked tenderly. His voice was quiet and worried, and it sounded so motherly, it prompted me to give another shivering sob, which then released itself in a fresh torrent of tears and mad wailing. Startled, the male jumped a bit, then sat on the bed and clumsily pulled me into an embrace. So weakened by the emotional outbursts, I couldn't find the strength to push him away, and so I simply continued to cry against this stranger's warm chest.

"I-I w-want to go h-home…" I stuttered through my tears and erratic sobbing, and the redheaded male nodded, rocking back and forth softly.

"Hush… It's okay… I promise, you're in no danger here. I give my word on my own life." He promised softly, holding me protectively. I hiccupped a few times, looking up at him and for the first time focusing on his eyes… well, eye. They were a deep forest green.

"Who are you?" I asked, sitting up and wobbling slightly while I wiped stubbornly at my eyes and nose, which did little to diminish my soaked face. The stranger waited for me to finish attempting to clean myself up before replying.

"My name's Ezekiel. Ezekiel Netzeren. You're in my house, in the upper district of Meltokio." He explained calmly. "Now. Who're you? Where are you from, hon? What do you last remember?" As he asked, he checked my forehead for fever and, seeming satisfied, he let his hand drop without reacting. I took a deep, shaky breath, finally deeming Ezekiel as a friend, not a foe. No foe would ever act this lovingly. He'd obviously nursed me back to health.

"I…" I began, then stopped. I couldn't tell him where I came from. He'd never believe me! Not in a million years! Another deep breath steadied me and then I began to speak. "My… My name's Faith. Faith Bentley… I… I remember… being under a bush. A-A wolf was chasing me. Before that, I woke up in the forest, and before that I… I don't… I don't know." I spoke softly, screwing up my face as if trying to remember where I'd been before awakening in the forest under my comfort blanket.

Speaking of which…

"Ah… My things. Did you…?" Ezekiel stood suddenly, not giving me a chance to finish. He crossed the room and opened a closet, pulling my bag from a hook inside and bringing it back to me.

"I had to wash the blanket. It was covered in mud when I found you." He explained gently and I nodded, peeking into my bag. My sketchbooks, my pencils and erasers, and my hoodie, with cellphone and house key still nestled in the pockets were inside. Under the hoodie rested my bag of marshmallows, a bit squished but otherwise fine. I sighed, glad that these comfort items were still with me. I don't know what I would have done without something to remind me of my home.

"I… I don't remember anything from before I woke up in that forest. I just… know I'm far from home… wherever that is." I said softly, sighing. I didn't like this one bit. I wanted to be home, asleep in my own bed. But if I was here, best try and… make the best of it. Ezekiel nodded, as if sympathetic to my plight.

"Amnesia…" he said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. To me, it wasn't. My mind was already racing on what sort of things I needed to keep hidden, what I would be able to reveal. The amnesia would only go so far… "But… out of curiosity." The redhead said suddenly and I was brought out of my thoughts to glance at him with as little guilt as I could. "… Your clothes were very strange, and I have to say, I've never seen half of what you wore." Ezekiel pointed out, suddenly looking curious. "… Do you remember where you got any of your things? And… what's a Hedley?" He gestured toward a chair at the other end of the room where my clothes were folded and stacked, goggles laid neatly on top and boots on the floor in front of said chair. I swallowed and then shook my head.

"N-No… I don't remember. I'm… I'm sorry." I replied, looking ashamed. Ezekiel nodded calmly.

"It's perfectly alright. You'll look rather out of place in those clothes while you're here, though, so I brought you some of my friend's sister's old clothes, since you two are about the same size. Feel free to wear one of her outfits. Hopefully you can find something that is accustomed to your taste." He offered, gesturing once more to the closet he'd retrieved my bag from. "And… you're welcome to stay here as long as you need to." He finished, standing. I smiled half-heartedly, nodding.

"Thank you so much." I replied softly. This Ezekiel. He was quite sweet. He smiled amicably as he turned to leave.

"You seem to be in slightly better spirits, so I'll get out of your way and let you get dressed. Come down if you have the strength. If not, I'll bring dinner up around six." He said, before slipping out of the room and pulling the door shut. I blinked, watching him go. It was weird, but Ezekiel seemed to remind me of… my mother. She'd always been very caring and concerned, but at the same time cynical and playful. I could see the same personality behind this newcomer's forest eyes. He was a trickster. I was sure of it. I wiped tears out of my eyes once more, deciding firmly that moping and crying wasn't going to help me in the long run.

Standing clumsily, I moved to the closet, pulling it open and glancing inside critically. There were all manner of clothes in here! I looked through them in fascination, noticing cotton tunics similar to Ezekiel's but in all sorts of colors, belts hung off hangers, pants and skirts, and finally dresses. I noticed that at one end, there were a bunch of larger shirts and pants, and I finally realized, after staring at them for a few long second, that they were mens' clothes. With a slight flush, which I was sure was quite visible against my olive complexion, I decided that this was Ezekiel's room, and therefore, his closet. I felt guilty for a moment with the discovery that my host had been taking care of me while sleeping in a bedroom other than his own…

My eyes wandered to one of the dresses which had no sleeves, but was almost ankle length and was pure white. It was gorgeous and I pulled it off the rack. Should I try it on? I noticed there were fingerless gloves attached to the hanger and tilted my head. Perhaps not… It seemed almost too nice for casual wear… Putting the dress back, I then spotted a pair of looser cotton trousers and I pulled them out. They were a dark brown and I smiled as I noticed they were similar to a pair of sweat pants I'd had at home. I laid the pants on the bed, deciding I'd try them on, and then returned to the closet, picking out a light green tunic and a silver belt to go on top, figuring they'd look nice together. Finally, I located a pair of black, leather, fingerless gloves and dragged a pair of black, leather boots that went up to my shin out of the bottom of the closet.

All of these went on the bed, to be eyed cautiously by myself. After deciding that they didn't clash or anything, I shed my thin nightgown and began to dress, throwing my new clothes on and sighing. _What exactly have I gotten myself into?_ I wondered with a depressed feeling. Wasn't it every fangirl's dream to wake up in the world of their choosing, ready to be wooed by every handsome character that walked her way?

Not that that would happen for me. I had way too many flaws for someone like Kratos or Zelos to find attractive. Hell, what if I had appeared in the second game? I hoped with a bitter chuckle I hadn't, because I'd only played about an hour into that one… I glanced at myself in the full-length mirror across the room. With a small grimace, I noted that I kind of looked like I'd just fallen out of Lord of the Rings and I shook my head. However, too lazy to find a different color tunic or belt… or whatever it was that made me look so Middle Earth-ish, I went to the door and carefully pulled it open,

The hall outside the bedroom was wide and carpeted with an extravagant carpet. Carefully, I treaded down the hall, spotting a staircase and following it down. At the bottom, my nostril were assaulted by rich smells and immediately, my stomach began to growl insistently, reminding me I hadn't eaten in… well, at least a day. I clutched the offending organ from the outside and followed the scent of food into a large, nicely furnished kitchen. I blinked, looking around in surprise and then spotted Ezekiel at a counter nearby, chopping some vegetables.

"Hey! You're up!" he exclaimed with a soft smile as he looked up and noticed my presence. I nodded, smiling weakly.

"Barely, but yeah. Thank you again, Ezekiel." I replied modestly, leaning on the counter. "I… was wondering, may I help?" I asked, glancing at the veggies he was chopping. Ezekiel blinked, then nodded and passed the cutting board to me.

"I'm making chicken and veggie soup, so finish those up, so I can dump them in." he explained with a smile as he handed me the knife. "Oh, and call me Zeke. Ezekiel is so fancy." He finished with a chuckle before moving to the other side of the counter to cautiously shake some spices from small containers into the large pot of stock that was boiling on the counter.

I immediately set to chopping the celery and carrots in front of me, feeling much better with something to keep me busy. I glanced around the kitchen a bit, whenever I wasn't afraid I'd cut my fingers off. No microwave, but an older fashioned sink, a stove, an oven, and a wash-basin. The place looked like it was still pretty far behind, technologically, but I thought with amusement that if this place was at this point, then Sylvarant must be a mess.

Ah, yes. Sylvarant. Had the journey for the regeneration of Sylvarant passed? Had they even begun? Perhaps they were in the middle of their journey through their world. Had they met up with Sheena yet? Or were they finishing the Balacruf Mausoleum? Perhaps they were even resting up in Hima and waiting to head for the Tower of Salvation tomorrow morning? Were Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla merged yet, or were they still adjacent, separate worlds? How much hold did the Renegades have over Tethe'Alla? I decided I wouldn't find out easily without being found out as being an outsider to this world. Shrugging, I simply finished up chopping and handed the cutting board to Ezekiel, my head suddenly clouded with thoughts.

"You okay, Faith? You look a little ill." Zeke pointed out, and I was reminded of something else.

"I-I think I'll be okay. Eze-… Zeke, may I ask you something?" I asked, sitting in a chair at the round, wooden table nearby. Zeke nodded as he dumped the veggies into the broth and stirred it. I paused to collect my thoughts, and then looked back at the redhead. "… What happened when you found me?" I asked softly, "I mean, I only really remember hiding under the thorns from that wolf and… then some noises and not much else." I watched him, waiting for an answer. Ezekiel's brow furrowed slightly as he stirred the soup.

"I heard you scream and tracked the sound to where you were." He explained, turning and looking directly at me. "By the time I got there, the wolf had settled down, so I killed it, figuring it was the cause of your scream. Then I just had to find you. Eventually, I managed to, and even then, I had to cut away some of the more stubborn branches in the bush before you'd come out." His eyes fell to my leg for a moment before coming back up to mine. "You'd cut yourself somehow and, I don't know why, but it was infected, even if the cut looked new. You had a wild fever, and you slipped in and out of consciousness as I carried you, so I brought you home and treated you." He finished by turning back to the pot and giving it another casual stir with the wide wooden spoon. "You slept for two days. I was wondering if you'd wake up at all." He finished, tilting his head.

I blinked in surprise. Two whole days? Even when I was sick at home, I'd never slept two days without waking up. That must've been a bad fever…

"Wow… Well, um… thank you for saving me." I replied, rather meekly. Ezekiel had risked his life for me, nursed me back to health and was now providing me with a place to stay and food. I wasn't often a fan of accepting charity, but in my present situation, I owed Zeke my life, and so I… Wow. Just wow. Ezekiel chuckled, finally seeming satisfied with his soup. He grabbed a ladle, filling a bowl with the aromatic dinner and placing it before me.

"It was pretty surprising to find a teenage girl hiding under that bush, but I'm glad I found you. I couldn't have lived with myself if I had just let you lie there." He said cheerfully, fetching me a spoon. I took it from him with another weak smile.

"You never would have known, though. You wouldn't have known to feel guilty." I pointed out and Zeke simply laughed.

"Good point." He replied, filling a bowl of his own, grabbing a loaf of bread on a plate, and sitting across from me at the table. He cut a slice and slid it onto a plate, pushing it toward me before doing the same for himself. "But still… I'm glad to know you're better. I was… really worried about you when I first found you." I nodded, suddenly distracted as I encountered a new thought.

"You said I'm in… Meltokio?" I asked the redhead. He nodded, biting into his bread and finishing his mouthful like a gentleman before speaking.

"Yes. The wealthier district, to be exact. You were passed out nearly an hour from the city's walls, so I brought you back with me. You say you don't remember anything about where you lived before waking up?" Ezekiel looked hopeful, tilting his head, but I shook mine quickly.

"Nothing." I lied swiftly, thanking whatever deity was torturing me out there that I was good at concealing the truth. "I just remember waking up. Nothing before." Immediately, images of my home bombarded me with emotions again and I squeezed my spoon hard as I dipped my bread into the soup and took a bite out of it.

The flavors of the food first surprised, then pleased me. This soup had obviously been made with real chicken stock. Nothing like the cruddy store bought crap my family used to use. The vegetables were all so full of flavor. Peas, carrot slices, celery chunks, and bits of white onion floated in the broth, each tempting me with an organic lure. The bread was thick and tasty. Sourdough, baked very recently, as I could tell by the perfect spongy texture. My body, realizing I hadn't eaten in days, went into a frenzy.

Barely minutes later, I was finishing off my bowl of soup to an amused-looking Ezekiel, whose bowl was barely half finished, if that.

"Would you like some more?" he asked with a chuckle, standing. I blinked up at him and nodded like a child, holding out my bowl. The young man accepted it and moved to the stove, refilling it and returning it to me. I immediately dove back in hungrily.

The rest of meal time proved to be quiet and less than conversational, since my mouth was full for nearly the whole meal, with very short periods in between mouthfuls. Ezekiel did manage to ask a few questions, though, mostly while he was up refilling my bowl so I could enthusiastically empty it once more.

"Do you remember your family, at all?"

"Not really…"

"And you don't know where you're from?"

"Nope."

"You just know it's far away."

Chomp. Chomp. Swallow. "Yeah."

"… Strange."

By the time I was done with my fifth bowl and slice of bread, my stomach was sighing happily and I leaned back in the chair, stretching. With food in my belly, I felt much more at peace and I smiled softly.

"You have a pretty smile." The comment startled me and I blinked, opening my eyes, which had slid shut, and looking at Ezekiel, who was getting up and clearing mine and his dishes, ready to dump them in the wash basin.

"… Excuse me?" I asked, a bit incredulous at the comment. Zeke simple smiled over his shoulder.

"Your smile. It's pretty when it's full and happy. I mean, you smiled earlier, and it was alright, but you still seemed pretty down. That was a sincere one, and you were glowing. Your smile is very pretty." He explained in more detail, beginning to scrub the dirty dishes. I stared for a moment, then nodded.

"… Thank you." The kitchen remained quiet for a little while, with me not quite willing to leave Ezekiel to do all the kitchen work to himself, but not exactly wanting to get up with such a full stomach. Besides, I was busy thinking.

Then I had a thought that made me cringe slightly.

"… Zeke?" I asked, my voice cutting through the relaxed silence. The redhead turned to look at me as he put the last dish on the rack to dry.

"What's up?" he asked, looking at me curiously.

"You said we're in Meltokio. Isn't that where the… Chosen lives?"

"Zelos Wilder? Yeah. I know him. We're sort of acquaintances."

Oh God, no…

* * *

Chapter two! Done!

Sort of describes more about where Faith is and who she's with. It's funny that I picked Ezekiel for her to end up with, of all people. He's been one of my characters for years and I had to alter him big time for this. In other words, make him a human, instead of a fire demon…

He'll play a comfortable part in Faith's orientation to Meltokio and everything about it, and then he'll likely show up later. Other characters will poke their heads in and out of the story at random intervals too.

Please remember to review. Reviews make me happy! I'll write more and faster if there are reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter threeee! I'm so happy I'm still writing at this point. I never make it this far in most fanfics… Anyways, I don't have much to say about the last chapter. I'm just keeping myself uber busy with writing.

Ezekiel: You know, I can't really believe you put me in this story. Why, exactly?

Me: Shut up or I'll do what I was planning on from the beginning.

Ezekiel: Hey! Don't even! You _know_ I'm not the mother hen type! You've got your own OC so OOC it's not even funny!

Me: But you're so cuuuute as one! Besides, you know who she reminds you of. And that's why you're acting like that! Anyways, before Zekey can kill me, on with the story!

* * *

It was mid-afternoon of the fourth day, counting my two sleeping days, when I stepped out of the elegant mansion that belonged to Zeke. The sun was still relatively high in the sky, and the clock inside had read only two-forty in the afternoon. My caretaker, as I now considered him, had offered to take me grocery shopping and show me about the market, to help me get a feel for the city. Thankful to get some fresh air for the first time since I'd arrived in Meltokio, I agreed.

The day before, I'd eaten dinner, and then promptly fallen asleep again, much too exhausted to really do anything else. Zeke had let me sleep solidly through the night, and I'd woken this morning to eggs and bacon sizzling away downstairs.

Zeke had proven over the course of the day to be kind, though a bit of a joker, as I'd expected. He really did remind me of my mother, and I couldn't help but smile and be saddened by that particular thought, all at the same time. What was my mother doing right now? Talking frantically to police? Crying alongside my father and stepfather? Was my little sister doing alright? Were they scared? I found myself continuously wondering the same things and forcing myself to sit, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

Every once in a while, I'd fail at that and the crying would start again. Thank goodness for Zeke, who often noticed immediately and would be right there with tissues and a kind hand to rub my back… If anything, it made me feel better and reminded me that I wasn't alone.

By mid-afternoon, though, my mood had lightened a bit with the promise of going for a walk, and so Zeke and I left his home and headed down the neatly cobbled street.

"Now, Meltokio's rather big." Ezekiel began, and I found myself nodding along. Compared to the game version? This place was _massive_! It was nothing compared to the city I'd lived in at home, but it was much larger than what I remembered running through on my Wii. I then noticed Zeke was still talking and I focused on what he was telling me. "The city's divided into different sections. At the top, there's the royal castle and the church of Martel. We're also by the top. Going down this road is taking us to the central square for the Nobles' District." He paused to gesture around himself and I nodded, taking in the information slowly.

"So, would that mean… that the Nobles' district attaches to the upper area?" I asked, tilting my head toward him. He smiled.

"Exactly. From where we're headed, which is the square, we'll be able to see a path through some gardens. That'll take us to the top, main area of the city, which we call the Atrium of Martel, because that's where the cathedral is." Zeke replied, smiling. As we walked, I marveled over the edge of the Nobles' district. The railings were ten feet tall, but made of a clear glass-like material that seemed rather unbreakable. It was as if the rich members of society wished to peer down at the rest, believing they were below them.

To my great amazement as we reached the square, I discovered, looking back, that the entire Nobles' district was built on what looked like a hollowed out hill, to create a manmade cliff. The mansions sat comfortably on the large flat surface at the top of this hill, some even being built down the far side, with extravagant gardens around them to make up for the lack of city view. It was a far cry from the seven or eight houses around the 'top floor' of the game's version of the city.

Zeke made his way efficiently through the throngs of rich people basking in the afternoon sun, and I felt childish as I almost panicked when I lost sight of him for a moment, and then finally demeaned myself to gripping the back of his tunic as we moved through the crowded areas. The redhead simply smiled good-naturedly at me over his shoulder and kept moving. Finally, I could see the gardens rising before us and I smiled, happy to be out of the stuffy, spoiled atmosphere.

The walk through the gardens was calm, but pretty. There were all sorts of flowers, ranging from rose bushes, to great green and purple flowers I'd never seen before, hanging from thick vines that wrapped around arches like pythons, ready to constrict their prey. The light that filtered through the many leafy plants that created a guided canopy above us was misty and green, and there were benches placed periodically through the gardens. I longed to sit in here and just lose myself in the aromas of the flowers and plants, but Zeke kept ushering and pulling me along. I had a moment, however, to pick a black flower that looked just like a very large poppy, but smelled almost like pepper and I stuck it in behind my ear, the black contrasting and yet matching with my chestnut-colored hair.

Finally, we were out of the gardens and I found myself following Zeke onto a very familiar looking square-like area.

"So this is the Atrium?" I asked, glancing from the Church, which was right across us, to the guards, standing outside the front entrance to the huge castle to our right. On our left were, surprise, surprise, a set of stone stairs that traveled down for ages. I figured the walk to the bottom would take almost a half an hour, but thankfully, Zeke didn't seem so interested in the walk down to the bottom, as a landing only about five minutes down. Looking farther down the stairs, I saw a number of landings. Three, to be exact. I didn't remember those being there in the game, but there they were. They each seemed to lead off into a different area, as well, each built on the same form of risen platforms the Atrium was built upon, except lower down.

The first one I could see led to the Coliseum, which I could see off to our right, down a suspended road, which was also lined with the tall, protective guard rails. There were what looked like guards, warriors, mages, archers… all manner of warriors wandering the area and I watched in amazement as they passed by. They all looked so… impressive!

I wondered vaguely if my being placed here would force me to learn how to fight? Sure, I had some odd skills, like poi swinging, Aikido, belly dancing, a basic grasp of Capoeira, and even a month and a half's worth of classes in pole dancing. (I did it more for the workout than the opportunity to look slutty. I would never pull it off.) But I couldn't really find enough knowledge in any of these strange abilities to put stock in it working as a battle technique. I sighed, hoping I wouldn't get swept off on some crazy adventure. That seemed to be the norm in the worlds of the Tales games.

The second platform was connected to the same landing as the Coliseum, only with a staircase that went down, placing it on a lower level. Many more battle-ready individuals flocked this area, moving across the large platform to different stalls. I supposed it was a market of some sort, though from the distance I couldn't tell what.

Gently, seeing my fascination and distraction, Zeke took my hand to get my attention and led me down the stone steps to the platform itself.

"We'll pass by the Battle Market and the Coliseum. We don't need to prep for a fight any time soon, and my fire magic usually keeps me going in the Coliseum anyways." He said absent-mindedly as we reached the first landing, and simply passed it by. I realized quickly as Zeke said "Battle Market" that the first market area obviously sold weapons and battle equipment. Nodding, I followed the redhead down the next set of stairs. Noticing a group of women off to one side, I became curious. I craned my neck to see, but despite my efforts, couldn't quite figure out what they were all looking at. One tall red-haired woman, whom I could only see from the back, blocked my view. Someone probably just had a cute puppy or something and the women were all cooing over it…

Girls did tend to do that around cute things.

It took less time than I thought to reach the second platform, which was a little more commercial than battle, and branched off to the left instead of the right. Zeke mentioned that this was the Luxuries Market, where clothing, accessories, decorations, fine armor and so on were sold. He said we'd take a peek on our way back, but he was anxious to get groceries before the stands closed, which they did mid-afternoon. I agreed, knowing our time to get dinner ingredients was quickly slipping by and I followed him down the steps even further.

The third platform was another familiar area to me, and the last landing in the giant stairway. It looked similar to the area in the game that had branched off to the Coliseum on one side and a shop (though I couldn't remember which) on the other. However, now the area was filled with travelers and residents of the city, moving to and fro from the markets on either side. They looked busy, carrying heavy bags to and fro and counting out their Gald to make sure they'd have enough for an extra life bottle or two if they needed it. I wondered mildly what a gel really looked like, or how a life bottle tasted, but before I could even think about going down the staircase on my left to go explore the Supplies Market, Zeke was dragging me to the last market. The Food Market.

"C'mon! You can help me decide on what to make!" he said with a grin, and I sighed, relinquishing my control and allowing myself to be dragged into the market after the enthusiastic redhead noble who just got way too excited over cooking.

Perusing the stands, Zeke and I finally managed to agree on beef sandwiches and a broth dip, and went about buying the things we'd need. During that time, I learned a bit on how to use Gald, and began to figure certain things out about the currency. I was amused to discover that they were indeed just a bunch of gold coins. However, counting them took skill, and I was given the chance to practice while Zeke chatted with a few stand owners he seemed to be rather familiar with. Finally, I managed to get the right amount of Gald out, which I handed over somewhat proudly and we paid for our dinner ingredients.

Passing a fruit stand, I saw an odd berry-looking fruit that I didn't recognize. I frowned slightly, inspecting it closer.

"Ever tasted a kirima?" Zeke asked as he came up behind me, and I yelped and clutched my chest. After a moment, recognition dawned on me. That was the fruit I always ended up with a lot of because those beetles always seemed to carry them, right? I shook my head to answer the male's question and Zeke's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Never?"

"Ah… Not that I can remember." I replied sheepishly, looking from the noble to the basket of fruits at the stand. Without another word, Zeke marched over and began speaking to the woman running the fruit stand. He came back barely a minute later with a bag of kirima fruit tucked under his arm.

"I'll make a cake with them for dessert tonight, okay?" he asked with a smile. I gave a wide smile back and nodded.

"Can I help make it?" I asked eagerly. "I love baking!" The redhead glanced at me, stared hard, as if scrutinizing my abilities as a chef, and then shrugged.

"Well, you didn't burn the vegetables last night."

"I was cutting them!"

"Exactly!"

Our joking around led to me chasing Zeke back up the steps clumsily and quickly growing out of breath, while the nimble male leapt up the stairs two or three at a time and paused to wait for me. He'd stand on a step a distance away and wait for me to just about come close enough to catch him, and then he'd bound away at the last second with a playful laugh. I giggled, chasing after him just as playfully. For the moment, all my worries about home and my family were gone. It was just me and my friend goofing off in our own little world.

Finally, we reached the landing a little further up and Zeke stopped, causing me to bump into his back.

"Oof!" I grunted, grabbing onto him to right my balance. The redhead glanced over his shoulder at me to make sure I was okay, and then gestured cheerfully to the Luxuries Market.

"Shall we go look?" he asked. "I'm sure we can find some clothes for you that aren't my friend's sister's hand-me-downs." I frowned after a moment, tilting my head.

"Zeke, I'm broke. Hell, until a little while ago, I didn't even kno-ah, remember how to use Gald properly. I can't pay for clothing from a market as lavish as Meltokio's." I explained, crossing my arms. "Besides, these hand-me-downs may be a fraction big on me, but they're comfortable." I shook my head. "So I think I'll be fine." Of course I'd be fine. I already had clothes. Zeke had provided them for me. I was already in his debt enough, so I didn't need to continue acting like a damsel in distress and make him buy me a whole new wardrobe, too.

I could stand on my own two feet.

I could.

Five minutes later, I followed Zeke through the crowded Luxuries Market, grumbling to myself about a lack of ability to stand up to other people. Trying to figure out just how pathetic I was, my wandering partner stopped at a stand to check some fabrics. I sighed, thinking about my mother again.

She'd never been one for sewing, but one of her friends had been. I had been considering getting a cosplay done by her, and we'd gone to the fabric store many times before. It was like our home away from home, and we used to wander the different rolls of fabric until the cows came home. Hell, I helped her pick out her wedding dress fabric, which she made from scratch in under a month.

Smiling on such fond memories, I shook my head, and looked up to go find Zeke, except…

He'd moved on without me.

Panic erupted in my breast and I looked around wildly, but the fiery haired young man was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it…" I moaned to myself, starting to walk in the direction we'd been heading in the first place, hoping I'd chance upon Zeke. However, no matter how keen an eye I always figured I had, I didn't once spot that shock of red hair that belonged to my ticket back, well, home. Sitting on a bench, I sighed heavily, looking around. Now that I took into consideration the number of stalls and the busy atmosphere of these platform markets, I noted how big they actually were. Was I lost? Another three-hundred-sixty degree inspection of my surroundings proved that I was, indeed…

Perfect. Of course, I'd pull another damn damsel in distress move and lose my knight in a crowd and get myself hopelessly lost. Cynically, I began listing off the princess-y things I could do. I could play the wussy princess and scream, which would alert every person in the area that I was lost, but it would also likely cause me no end to embarrassment and I would feel unbelievably foolish and childish. I could play the badass princess and go off on an adventure, search out my knight, kill monsters, bad guys, and try to locate him against _all_ odds, or… I could pick the easy 'Rapunzel' style of action and just sit here lazily until another, equally handsome, brave and strong knight came to save me.

But, there were very few men in this place that fit that description, and I was certain I didn't want-

"Well, hey there, beautiful. You look a bit lost."

Shit. God damn, me and my big, fat mouth… brain. Mouthbrain. Oh, whatever. Damn it all.

I looked up cautiously to find handsome sapphire eyes gazing down at me and radiating all the 'come hither' they could possibly muster. A face so perfect it could have been formed from porcelain framed a confident smile and wavy red locks cascaded down over pink-clad shoulders, to rest partway down a lean back.

I stared up at Zelos Wilder and felt myself bristle with something I couldn't quite name. Was it the pure fangirl in me acting up? Or embarrassment? Perhaps. However, I narrowed my eyes stubbornly at the male, averting my gaze from those Apollo-esque looks.

"I'm fine." I replied rather firmly, hoping the vest-wearing, girly-looking (not that anyone could mistake him for a girl in reality. That body was enough to tell.), goofy grin wearing Chosen would simply go away. However, Lady Luck had cast the dice and my roll had not come up looking good. A weight dropped onto the bench, indicating that that Zelos had instead chosen to sit beside me.

"You don't look fine. Hell, you look a bit flushed, and pretty freaked out." He replied, frowning. I glanced back at him and sighed.

"I got separated from my escort, is all." I explained, hoping the escort part would be enough to deter him from trying anything funny. I wasn't usually one for flirting, or romance for that matter. All I ever wanted was a bit of peace and quiet, but did I get it? Of course not! Karma had dubbed me its worst enemy!

Again, the blow of Karma's steely fist struck strong and squarely in my gut as Zelos simply smiled handsomely.

"Well, then. Allow the great Zelos Wilder to be of assistance!" he said gallantly, standing up and offering me his hand.

I stared at that black and pink gloved hand long and hard, and thought about what to choose. I could refuse that offer, sitting right in front of me. After all, I knew who Zelos was, and though I wasn't sure about his motives in real life, in the game, he was a total, carefree, lazy, useless traitor pervert. Maybe that was why I fangirled over him so hard… Did I really want to be mixing myself up with him in reality, though…?

Then there was the chance of mixing myself up in anything serious or plot-related. I figured if Zelos was in Meltokio, strutting around with ladies attached to him, he obviously hadn't gone through the life-changing situation of going with the group on their journey, which meant they couldn't have gotten here yet. Had they even begun, or had I showed up years in advance? It didn't seem so, since Zelos looked to be in about his early twenties, and in the first Tales of Symphonia, it had been revealed that he was twenty-two…

And what if I did take his hand and go with him? He obviously knew how to get out of the market and to get back to the Nobles' District. (Though I was sure once I was out of this market, I could at least get back to the gardens on my own.) Not to mention he was willingly offering me his help. The fangirl at the back of my mind was screaming at me to take that gloved hand, while the logical half was reminding me that this was the infamous pervert Zelos Wilder I was dealing with and I had to tread carefully around him until I was sure of my footing.

In the end, it was my stomach that made the final decision.

With a fierce, un-ladylike growl, reminding me I hadn't eaten since breakfast and that it was swiftly nearing dinner time, it forced me up onto my feet, grasping Zelos' hand and following him through the crowds, before I even knew what was happening. I watched where we were going very closely, trying to find landmarks. Meanwhile, the Chosen was dragging me along at a quick pace, blabbering about all manner of things. As we walked, I caught snippets of what he was saying.

"… and it _is_ awfully big here-"

"…new in town? I haven't seen your cute face around-"

"…already know who I am, though, right?"

I blinked and looked at him, noticing suddenly that we'd stopped walking and were magically outside the market, at the entrance to it from the stairs. He seemed to be looking at me expectantly and I blinked again.

"S-Sorry. I was completely spaced out." I said, feeling almost ashamed for not listening to anything he'd said for the past few minutes. Zelos looked miffed for a moment, before grinning and pulling me to him, taking me completely by surprise. After a clumsy pirouette, he wrapped an arm around my waist and chuckled.

"You are so cute! What did you say your name was again, sweetie?"

My shame disappeared in an instant and I gave the obnoxious male a shove, attempting to free myself from the grasp of those thin, yet muscular arms. "I didn't." I replied stubbornly as Zelos let go of me. My momentum had collected by this point, and I nearly fell back, but the long-haired male just couldn't give me a break. He had an arm under me before I even hit the ground.

I supposed he was trying to impress me, but I simply crossed my arms and looked from the ground to him, signaling I'd like to stand on my own two feet. He sighed softly and helped me up properly, allowing me to regain my clumsy and rather horrible balance.

Perhaps that's why I never really got anywhere with Capoeira…

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Wilder." I said briskly, looking around for any sign whatsoever of Ezekiel. Were he to pop up right about now, I'd truly start calling him my knight in shining armor. "But… I still need to find my _escort_." Zelos nodded, as if my emphasis on the word escort hadn't existed and smiled.

"I'd be happy to help. Now, just who is the lucky fellow?" he asked, though I detected almost a slight hint of jealousy behind his voice and had to suppress a chuckle. Zelos, getting envious of a guy he doesn't know over a girl he's never met? Why does that seem typical…?

"Ezekiel. Ezekiel Netzeren." I replied, recalling how Zeke had told me him and Zelos were acquaintances. The Chosen's eyes lit up as he recognized the name, giving that piece of knowledge merit.

"Oh, yeah! Good ol' Zeke! I bet we can find him. Now, do you think retracing your steps is a better choice, or should we wait for him at home?" he asked, crossing his arms and appearing to be judging which of the ideas was better. I closed my eyes, figuring retracing my steps was silly. Even if Zeke had already left the Luxuries Market, he would be very aware that I would have headed upward, to a place we could meet, like in front of the gardens. However, heading back to Zeke's house to wait for him to show up could have its own issues, especially if I was going alone with Zelos.

I pondered a few more moments, before sighing. The decision I was less comfortable with was always the one I was forced to take.

"I suppose waiting for him at his house is the best course of action." I said after a few moments of silence. As I opened my eyes, I noticed Zelos was staring at me quite intently. "… What?"

"What?"

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You were staring at me."

"So? I stare at pretty girls all the time."

"I'm not pretty, though."

"Of course you are."

"… Let's go." Suddenly frustrated by the ridiculous turn the conversation was taking, I headed toward the stairs, stomping up them grumpily. Zelos sighed, smiling and following.

"You sure are funny." He commented as we climbed and I had to fight the urge to glare at him. Instead, I forced my gaze to remain straight and stubbornly ahead.

"How so?" I replied, knowing that if his answer managed to irritate me any more that I already was, I was going to hit him.

"You are so… confrontational. The way you act is almost to an extreme." He said thoughtfully, and I furrowed my brow, looking at the male dead on as I continued up the steps. "I mean, I speak with every respect I can offer a lady, but you seem to be volatile, no matter what I say. All I've been trying to do is be nice to you, and you have pushed me away and shot me down every time." I sighed.

"Does your brain have any comprehension of the word flirting? Because that's what you've been doing. Not being nice. Straight. Up. Flirting." I snapped back, panting a bit. I was apparently really out of shape, and these stairs were starting to wreak havoc on my aching lungs.

Zelos seemed taken aback by my words, but he was quiet most of the way up the stairs after my snippy comment. After a little while, I began to feel bad and I let my shoulders slump.

"Don't slouch."

"… Huh?" The random comment hit me from nowhere and I looked at Zelos in surprise and confusion.

"You're slouching." He pointed out, indicating my slumped shoulders and curved spine. "Here…" Gently grasping my shoulder and placing a hand at the small of my back, he realigned the way I stood so my spine was straighter. "Walking like that keeps you alert and makes you more noticeable in a crowd. Slouching makes you blend right in. Try to stay noticeable if you're trying to find someone."

I groaned inwardly. Expect Zelos to be able to parent you, compliment you, and help you out all at the same time? Not on my list, but a pleasant surprise. Why was it that I was starting to feel like an ass for the way I'd acted earlier…?

"Thanks…" I said softly, glaring at the pavement beneath my feet. As we reached the Atrium, not without a small amount of celebrating on both our parts, thankful to be at the top of the dreaded stairs, I turned to the redhead Chosen. "I'm sorry about earlier. I've… got a lot on my plate right now. If I kind of bit your head off, I didn't mean to." I said feeling and sounding rather guilty. The handsome male simply shook his head good-naturedly.

"Actually, you've been reminding me of a good friend of mine." He replied with a smile. I stared at him for a few moments, confused. Who could I be reminding him of? Noticing the look on my face, the Chosen elaborated. "An old friend. I care about her a lot, but she's very snarky around me. Always calling me an idiot and such." He chuckled, shaking his head and something clicked in my head.

Sheena. That had to be it.

Wait, I was reminding him of Sheena? Why did that not feel like a good thing?

"Well, where's she now? You talk about her like she's far away or something." I offered, hoping to gleam some information about Sheena's whereabouts. If she was in Sylvarant, I'd have to be careful about what I did. I didn't want to get sucked up into the plot or anything. Especially since I wasn't really one for running around and adventuring. At all. Zelos shrugged.

"I just know she's really far away. Doing some important work." He said, with a hint of reservation in his voice and my inward groan nearly broke out. She wasn't here. She was in Sylvarant. The Journey of Regeneration had begun on the other side, and they would eventually come here.

Damn it.

I glanced around, suddenly wanting to put the thought out of my mind and spotted the gardens to my right. Heading for them, I heard the pink-clad male behind me pick up his pace, Sheena no longer a topic of conversation.

"How do we reach the Nobles' District from here?" I asked, looking around. Zelos pointed down a wide path and I headed down said path quickly, with the redhead tagging along behind me and occasionally trying to make conversation. I was much too busy to respond to most of what he was saying, however, feeling rather miffed by the whole situation. Finally, the fountain of the square was within sight and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, so Ezekiel's house is…" Zelos paused to look around, and then he stopped, indicating one certain road. "Up this lane. Are you sure you wouldn't like to come back to my place for a while instead?" he asked with a hint of a grin gracing his features. I stared pointedly at him and sighed.

"I'd rather make sure he knows I'm alright." I explained, crossing my arms. The Chosen simply shrugged and continued walking.

"Alright, but I'll tell you, you're missing out." He replied playfully with a chuckle as we headed up the road. I could understand why Sheena would call the man an idiot now, but I was sincerely hoping it was just the fangirl in me that was giving me the urge to swoon before the Adonis before me. It was taking a lot of will to restrain that urge and I cursed myself, gritting my teeth in frustration. Zelos glanced up as he noticed me tensing up and I glared at him stubbornly. He simply sighed and smiled in response.

Finally, after what felt like hours of awkward silence, we reached Ezekiel's manor. I was glad Zelos pointed it out or I would have missed it entirely, being too wrapped up in my self-centered annoyance to even notice it.

"Alright. Thank you, Zelos. I, uh… I appreciate your help in directing me back here." I said formally, hoping a goodbye would be enough for the man. However, I was not so lucky. When was I ever?

"Doesn't look like Zeke's back yet." He noticed and I sighed, quietly enough to conceal it from him. "I'd like to see him again, since it's been a while. I'll wait with you." His grin was charming, but anything but innocent, and I narrowed my eyes, sitting on the steps. He sat beside me, making himself comfortable. I remained stubbornly quiet, even as Zelos looked at me, seeming to hope I'd make conversation. Finally, he gave up and began to speak instead.

"So, where are you from?" he asked, nearly catching me off guard. I glanced at him warily and shrugged. This elicited a frown from the male and he sat up properly. "You don't know?" I shook my head.

"Zeke said it was probably amnesia." I replied, shrugging again. "He found me in the forest after hearing me scream. I was hiding from a monster that had been chasing me when he found me. He found me with an insane fever and brought me back here, and when I woke up, I couldn't… remember anything. My family, my home, my life. It's all gone." Zelos' eyes widened as he took in this story.

"You… poor thing." He said softly, placing a hand on my shoulder. I immediately saw the honest concern and sympathy in his expression and couldn't help but smile.

"It's fine. I'll remember eventually, and in the meantime, Zeke's been taking very good care of me." I said, placing a hand on top of the Chosen's. "Thanks, though. Your sympathy means a lot." Zelos nodded, squeezing my shoulder once before letting go. Suddenly, the silence grew comfortable, and I let myself relax. Maybe this male, whom the game portrayed as lazy, girl-crazy and foolish, wasn't such a flat character in real life. Smiling at the thought, I glanced down the road, following Zelos' gaze.

We waited.

* * *

A/N: Alright! First thing's first. NO. FAITH IS NOT GOING TO END UP PAIRED WITH ZELOS. OR KRATOS. OR LLOYD. OR… GAH.

If you think this is a blatant 'pair myself up with a ToS character just to giggle and fantasize' fanfic and are about to flame me for it, then go away. Please and thank you. It is _not_, in any way shape or form. Faith (and I) are very hesitant when it comes to romance, and my OC/Self-insert will not end up in any pairings in the foreseeable future. Especially not with a canon character.

Anyways, now that that's over with, Zeke, get on with it.

Ezekiel: Pff. Review whore.

Me: Shut up or that plan goes into action.

Ezekiel: B-but!... -growls- Review, please. Maybe if you do, she won't pick on me…


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, chapter four. I have little to say, except to thank RegalBryantLover for the frequent reviews. They make the sun shine on my self esteem!

I'm hoping to keep Faith as a main, yet side character at the same time. She'll know how to defend herself, but I'm undecided on what her main weapon/fighting style will be, so we shall see about that.

* * *

We waited… but not for long.

After only about ten minutes of comfortable silence interrupted only by periodic yawns, clearing of throats, and other mild noises and actions on both our parts, Zelos perked up and glanced past me. I jumped, brought out of my thoughts by his sudden movements and followed his gaze down the lane and past the other manors and large houses that sat adjacent and alongside Ezekiel's.

"Looks like your 'escort' is here." The handsome Chosen said, pointing down the road. I almost immediately spotted Zeke running toward the house like a sprinter on the final stretch, looking rather frazzled. I smiled, standing up and waving to him, swinging my arms over my head wildly to get his attention.

"Oi, Zeeeeeke!" I called out happily. He spotted me and smiled widely, seeming to let out a huge sigh of relief. It took the male barely ten seconds to sprint up the stairs, reach me and crush me in a hug.

"Faith! I'm so glad you're okay!" he exclaimed, squeezing even tighter and crushing the breath out of me when I hugged back. I simply nodded and nuzzled into his chest, glad he had found me. I was sure he'd been worried and I'd felt bad for putting him through so much trouble.

"So, I finally learn the mysterious cutey's name. Faith, huh? A cute name for a cute girl." Zelos interjected with a chuckle. It seemed the Chosen had put his mask of boundless ego and girl-crazy stereotyping back on. Zeke loosened his grip on me long enough to glance at the other redhead before him. "Nice to see you, Zeke." Zelos said, resting his hands on his hips with a cheerful grin. Ezekiel nodded, with an amicable smile.

"You too, Zelos. I assume it was you who guided Faith back here?" He spoke with an amused tone, his head cocked to one side. Zelos simply nodded.

"Yeah. You really shouldn't abandon helpless women in the Markets, Zeke." He teased with a smirk. Ezekiel only rolled his eyes at the comment.

"That's because you'll find them. Thank goodness Faith can keep her wits about her, even while being bombarded by empty-headed tail-chasers like you." He shot back playfully. Zelos laughed and reeled back as if he'd been punched.

"Ooh, low blow. Low blow." He said, putting his hands up to protect himself. "Gonna invite me in?" A long ruby lock fell off his shoulder to dangle down his chest as he tilted his head slightly, with an even bigger grin. I simply smiled and began to wriggle out of Ezekiel's grip, which was still tight and protectively wrapped around my upper body.

"Why don't we all go in?" I suggested, gesturing toward the door. Ezekiel smiled, letting me go and nodding.

"A very sensible suggestion." He replied, taking a key from his pocket and unlocking the door. As soon as it was open, he held it open for me and Zelos to enter first, before he himself stepped inside, closing the door behind him. I paused, hanging back as Zelos proceeded into the living room to glance at Zeke apologetically.

"I'm sorry about earlier today. I spaced out and when I looked up, you were gone." I said, feeling rather guilty. However, the redhead simply smiled and shook his head, hugging me again.

"The only thing I worried about was your safety." He replied calmly. "Now that I know you're safe, I'm at ease. I'm most certainly not angry, okay? Now, go ask Zelos if he'd like to stay for dinner." I beamed and nodded, letting him go and heading out into the living room.

"Hey, Mr. Zelos." I said cheerfully, settling on the couch next to the effeminately dressed male. He glanced at me with an amused expression.

"Mr. Zelos? I like that…" he said with a thoughtful expression before chuckling. "What's up, hunny?" I simply glanced down at my feet, sighing.

"Thank you for your help today. I really don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come along." I admitted honestly. The Chosen seemed almost surprised, but after a few moments of silence, he nodded with a charming smirk.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you're all safe now, but if you _really_ want to thank me, you could always give me a kiss…" he said playfully, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me nearly flush against his side. For a moment, I blushed a bright crimson and I noticed the victorious smirk on Zelos' face. My gaze, however, quickly turned icy as I realized I was giving the male exactly what he was hoping to achieve and I stared at him pointedly, waiting until he got the point that I wasn't actually going to swoon all over him, no matter what the fangirl inside me was saying. After a moment, the icy glare worked and Zelos' cocky look fell off his face. He sighed, letting me go and I immediately distanced myself.

"Are you staying for dinner?" I asked, trying not to sound embarrassed by what had just happened. In response, I got a lively grin, that spread across his entire face quickly.

"You kidding? Not even a crazy person would turn down Zeke's cooking! Tell him thanks for me." Zelos replied excitedly, ruffling my hair. I growled and attempted to fix it, standing and making a mental point to ask him later why he went from treating me like hungry man would treat a piece of meat, and treating me like a child. I was only a few years younger than him, after all, and many people said I looked older than my age. (It'd gotten me into trouble before as well.)

"Zeke?" I called as I stepped into the kitchen. Immediately, a pair of emerald eyes focused on me and I smiled. "Zelos accepts your offer and says thank you." I said, standing in front of the counter. "Now, give me something to do. I'm itching to keep my hands busy."

"I could give you something to do…" came a cocky voice from the doorway, and I had to curb the instinct to chuck the nearest thing to my hand, which was a large knife, in Zelos' direction. Zeke simply shook his head.

"Idiot." He said to the Chosen with a chuckle, passing me a recipe and the cake ingredients, including the fruit we'd bought earlier. I diligently began reading the recipe, eager for something to distract me from the male on the other side of the room who, when I looked over my shoulder at him, was once again smirking rather victoriously.

"Shut up!" I snapped, surprising both men with the force and frustration behind my voice. Zelos glanced at Zeke, and Zeke at Zelos. Then they both looked at me and back to each other.

"I didn't say anything. Did you?"

"Not that I know of."

"Faith must be hearing things." I heard Zelos chuckle after this statement and I glared over my shoulder.

"You know, I'm pretty sure you'd make a really nice target for knife-throwing practice." I threatened, holding up my knife. It was a good six inches long and very sharp. The ruby-haired Chosen blinked and promptly shut up, much to my great relief. Turning the oven on and letting it preheat, I began chopping up the fruit and putting them in a bowl, covering them to be mixed in later.

Baking had always been one of my favorite things to do with my mother, so, naturally, I was quite good at it. However, baking with such basic tools was a new and interesting challenge. I found myself wishing I had my electric mixer and so on, but made due with a hand crank one. Even with the lack of baking luxuries, the work itself relaxed me and I smiled, feeling at peace for once.

Eventually, I had the cake mix all finished and I poured half of the chopped kirima into the batter, leaving the other half for on top. Another mix and the cake batter had a cute pink color to it, thanks to the fruit. I smiled and placed the bowl off to one side.

"Where's a cake pan, Zeke?" I asked, looking through cupboards. The male at the counter crouched, opening a large sliding drawer and pulling a pan out for me.

"Here." He said, passing me the pan, which was the perfect size. I thanked him, placing it on the counter and pouring the batter into it. As I was flattening the top so it would bake nicely, I felt a weight on my shoulder, to find Zelos leaning over me, with his chin on my shoulder, watching intently.

"Can I help you?" I nearly snapped, though I managed to curb the frustration and simply spoke calmly, watching the Chosen shift slightly to glance at me playfully from the corner of his eye.

"Can I lick the spoon?" he asked in an almost childish manner and I couldn't help but deadpan. What was he, six? However, I smiled. The question and the way he was looking at me were both so amusing… It was a cross between "I'm trying to be cute to win you over" and "I'm trying to woo you with my ungodly sexiness." Neither was really working, but it was amusing to see him try. After a few more finishing touches and a flourish that didn't go unnoticed by the eagerly waiting Chosen, as it got an extra bit of batter on the spoon, (not for any reason, really. I was just feeling nice. It definitely wasn't because he was being uncharacteristically cute and it was reminding me of my sister in a twisted way.) I handed the implement over.

"Here." I said in a tone that was a cross of defeat and amusement. I watched as Zelos gave the spoon an experimental lick, then grinned and proceeded to lick the batter off as he leaned against the counter. Meanwhile, I picked up the pan and cautiously slid it into the oven, which was not hot enough to bake the dessert.

"You're a damn good baker, Faith." Zelos said, as he finally cleaned off the wooden spoon. I took it from him with a smile.

"Why, thank you." I replied, good-naturedly. For some reason, my mood had just brightened considerably and I was content, even with the perverted Chosen standing over me and watching me work over my shoulder.

"What else are you good at, hunny?" the male asked, tilting his head so he could see my face. I shrugged vaguely.

"I don't know... I… I draw, and I'm pretty sure I can swing poi rather well… and I know some basic staff techniques. I can, um…" I trailed off, knowing I couldn't reveal knowing Capoeira and Aikido, because I highly doubted those existed here. And even if pole dancing did, I was not, repeat, NOT going to reveal that in my current company.

Zelos seemed satisfied with the info I'd already given, however, and he was looking rather impressed.

"A lady of many talents. How come a cute hunny like you knows how to fight?" he asked, smiling. I looked up at him and shrugged.

"If I knew that, perhaps I wouldn't be here." I replied cleverly, raising an eyebrow. Zelos fell silent after than, retreating to his own thoughts.

Next, I worked on the icing, mixing the icing sugar, leftover chopped kirima and a little bit of water. Eventually, through a bit of trial and error, I had a gooey, yet firm pink icing. I could feel Zelos bristle beside me, and I smacked his stealthy hand away without even having to look at it.

"You can wait until dessert." I said firmly, and Zelos gave a small 'hmph', pouting and sitting at the table once more, much to Zeke's great amusement.

"You look like a toddler when you pout, Zelos." He said, shaking his head and returning to the slices of beef he was laying in a sandwich, which only caused the Chosen to pout even more.

By this point, the kitchen was alive with wonderful smells and I sighed, leaning against the counter and enjoying the aromas. Zeke noticed and smiled, dipping a spoon in the beef broth and offering it to me. I blinked and accepted it, taking a taste.

Wow.

Just wow.

"This is amazing, Zeke! You _have_ to share the recipe!" I exclaimed excitedly. The young man just laughed and scratched the back of his head modestly.

"Aw, it's not that great." He said, looking quite embarrassed. To prove him wrong, I stole another spoonful and handed the spoon off to Zelos. The Chosen took his taste as well, with the same reaction as mine.

"Whoa! That's an amazing broth, Zeke." He said with a grin. However, he then leaned over to me and waved the spoon in front of my face. "… Though I'm sure that indirect kiss made it all the better. Heheheh…"

"Ugh. Pervert." I sighed, shoving him away and sitting on the opposite side of the table as Ezekiel quickly turned back to his sandwich, blushing brightly at the dual compliments on his cooking.

"By the way, Zeke." Zelos spoke up suddenly, eyeing the other redhead. "What's become of Riccio these days? I haven't seen him or his little sister around much." I listened curiously and saw Zeke make a quick movement that wasn't quite a flinch.

"He's, uh, doing some field work. Far away." He said hesitantly, not meeting the gaze of either of us sitting at the table as he filled three small bowls with broth, and placed them on plates, also laying a sandwich alongside the bowls. He set one in front of me and one in front of the Chosen before returning to get his own.

"Far away? Like, near Flanoir?" Zelos pressed, raising an eyebrow. Ezekiel continued to refuse to meet his gaze, but nodded quickly. I felt it was my turn to interject.

"Who's Riccio?" I asked, tilting my head and looking innocently at Zeke. Apparently, this Riccio guy was someone Zeke wasn't too comfortable talking to, but I had to wonder why that was, exactly. Ezekiel sighed and gazed at me with a wary expression. When it was clear he wasn't going to speak, Zelos did instead.

"Riccio is Zeke's lover." He said with a grin. "They're always wandering around hand in hand and causing scandals around the city. But Riccio's been gone for a while, hasn't he?" he asked Zeke, who seemed to sink into his chair.

"Yes. He has…" he replied, sounding more than a little uncomfortable and no less lonely. "Like I said. He's out doing fieldwork. He is a scientist, after all..." Zelos nodded.

"Ah, he'll be back soon, I'm sure." He said, slapping Zeke on the back. "No reason to get so bent out of shape over it." I frowned, quite sure something was amiss here. Why was Ezekiel so hesitant to talk about Riccio? I held my tongue, however, seeing how uncomfortable the man was getting, and simply focused on eating my dinner. Zelos, seemingly oblivious to the other's discomfort, continued bombarding Zeke with questions.

"What's he studying?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, where is he?"

"Not sure…"

"Seriously, do you know anything about him?"

"Not really…"

I sighed, and then an idea formed in my head. Not a smart one whatsoever, but by the time my brain caught up with my mouth, it was much too late.

"Is he in Sylvarant?" I asked absent-mindedly. Then I stopped as I realized both men were looking at me, alarmed and concerned expressions on their faces.

Shit.

Wrong thing to say…

"How do you know about Sylvarant?" Zelos asked, forgetting about pestering Ezekiel and turning his attention to me. I blinked at the intense stare he was giving me and bit back a whimper. I didn't like direct confrontation. Not like this. When my friends got into this sort of thing, I always backed away. Now, though, well… I was just screwed. What does one so once they've shoved not only their foot, but their whole leg in their mouth and down their esophagus? Shitshitshit. What was it my sister always did? That's right.

Play dumb.

"I… I-I…" I stuttered for a moment, wearing a confused expression. "I… don't know." Though neither male seemed satisfied with my answer, they both settled down slightly and relaxed in their chairs.

"It's that amnesia, huh?" Ezekiel said hesitantly. "Was that the only thing you remembered?" Both he and Zelos watched me expectantly, but I only sighed in response and responded softly.

"I… N-no. Not really. I just know that Sylvarant is… another world… and that they're connected somehow, but we can't get to it." I tried to remember all I could about Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla. They're on separate dimensions, they vie for the dwindling mana supply, what else…? Oh! The Great Seed! I decided not to reveal any of my knowledge of that and simply shrugged sheepishly at the men sitting next to and across from me. "… Sorry."

"I don't get how you could know. I mean, that stuff was very heavily guarded within the people who knew…" Zelos said softly, more to himself than anybody else. "I suppose there must be more to your missing past than we know." His gaze was a bit odd, and making me quite uncomfortable. I looked away, opting to stare at my plate instead. Then, I heard Zeke sigh.

"Since everybody already knows, yes. Riccio is in Sylvarant." He admitted, staring soberly at his plate. "The Research Institute in Sybak and the Church combined got him passage to go there and collect data on their world… but I have my suspicions about that. After all…" he paused to look from me to Zelos and then back down again. "His personal lab was burned down just after he left, and all his materials were destroyed… What if he was studying something big? Something that could change our lives? And… the Church got him out of the way to make sure nothing changed. There has to be a reason."

Zelos looked at Ezekiel, surprised. He, too, had heard about the burnt lab and the conspiracies that rose about it, but it had never been mentioned that Riccio was in Sylvarant. All anybody had known, even himself, was that the scientist was Missing In Action and had yet to turn up.

"Sylvarant, huh…" he said in a pondering tone, catching Ezekiel's attention. "Well, who knows? We won't get anywhere by sitting around and being worrywarts about it. Best to move onto more cheerful and current topics of conversation." He said, shrugging and looking at me. "So, Faith, got a boyfriend~?" I glared at him.

"Not appropriate, Zelos." I snapped back, looking away stubbornly as I stood and moved to the oven, checking on the cake and discovering happily that it was finished baking. I pulled it out, carefully maneuvering it out of the cake pan and placing it on a plate before beginning to spread the glaze-like icing on top. The Chosen watched me and sighed.

"Fine. What about a job? I'm sure Zeke hasn't started charging you rent yet, but shouldn't you have some disposable income of your own and a small amount of savings, in case of some sort of emergency?" he suggested. I looked at him as I brought the cake, three forks, a knife, and three plates to the table, and blinked. To think that such an intelligent sounding statement had come from… Zelos. Wow.

"No… I've only been here a day and a half, so I really haven't thought about it…" I admitted, shrugging. "Besides. I'm really not sure what I could do around here as a job…"

"Leave it to me!" The Chosen said cheerfully, prompting both Zeke and I to regard him with skeptical expressions as we cut our pieces of cake.

"I'm hesitant to ask what kind of job you could get for her." My caretaker said, prompting Zelos to chuckle and shake his head, sitting down and serving himself as well.

"It's nothing shady. Honest! The castle is short a few maids and they asked me, the Great Zelos Wilder, to find a few hunnies who would be up to the task. That's all!"

I pondered for a few moments. A maid…? Like, cleaning rooms? _I have enough trouble keeping my room clean_, I thought to myself doubtfully. However, I also didn't want Ezekiel to have to support me the whole time I was with him… and who knew how long that would be? Eventually, I gave in to the eager and patient gazes of Zelos and Ezekiel, respectively.

"I guess I could give it a shot." I said awkwardly, immediately noting Zelos' goofy grin with a note of suspicion.

"Alright!" he exclaimed, standing and grabbing a piece of paper and pencil from the counter and jotting a few things down. I realized quickly that they were instructions, which he passed to me, under the protective and watchful eye of Ezekiel. I glanced at the note as I took a bite of my hard-earned dessert.

"Maid Job For Hunny Faith." was scrawled in loopy writing at the top and I sighed exasperatedly before reading on. It was a list of things to do. "Tell the guards at the door to the castle you're was applying for a job, under the of the recommendation of the Chosen." Easy enough. "Find Mariposa inside the castle and apply for job." Again, pretty simple. "Enjoy~"

"Heh. Thanks, Zelos." I said, smiling softly at the ruby-haired Chosen who grinned back and finished off his piece of cake. I swore, if the male had a tail, it would be wagging. Passing the note to Ezekiel, who was acting protective again, he read through it and, seeming satisfied, passed it back.

"I'll walk you to the castle tomorrow." He said, with a nod. "I have to go back to the Markets tomorrow, anyway and it's on the way." I felt a twinge of guilt seep into me.

"You don't need to go back because of what happened today, do you?" I asked, feeling bad. Ezekiel stared at me for a few moments, then blinked and chuckled.

"No! No, it's alright. It's not because I didn't get a chance to or anything. I only thought about it a little while ago." He reassured with a soft smile as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Honestly." I hesitated, staring hard at his expression, but detecting no lies, I nodded, feeling myself relax slightly. I opened my mouth to thank Ezekiel, and instead, a huge yawn made its presence known, prompting Zeke and Zelos to both chuckle. I bristled in exasperation. I felt like a child under both their stares and collected the now empty dessert plates, taking them to the sink.

"Hey, cutie. Go rest up. It's been a big day, after all." Zelos said, standing up and stretching. I blinked over at him, narrowing my eyes.

"I'm fi-i-ine…" I said around another wide yawn and cursed my 'eight hours of sleep a night or exhaustion the following day' schedule that often haunted me. I had to admit, I was rather tired and so, bidding Zelos and Ezekiel a grudging and quick good night, I ascended the staircase to my room, where I kicked off my boots and sighed, changing into the cotton nightgown I'd worn the last few nights. Sitting on the bed, I stretched comfortably and flopped back onto the mattress, closing my eyes against the lamp that still lit the room.

"… little bit suspicious… ask me…"

I blinked and sat up, looking around. Where had that come from? Moving from the bed, which made noisy springy sounds whenever I sat on it, to the floor, which was much quieter, I listened closely.

"… could have known… Sylvarant?"

Was that… coming from below me? I looked down, frowning slightly. It sounded a bit like Zelos… Though the saying 'curiosity killed the cat' struck me for a moment, curiosity got the better of this kitten and I laid on the floor, pressing my ear to the boards. Apparently, Zeke and Zelos had retreated to the living room, which was directly under my room, because the voices immediately grew louder and easier to understand, though some parts I still couldn't make out, much to my annoyance.

"I know, find a girl, save her life… home, it's a bit odd. Added to that… can't remember any of her past…"

"I'm more concerned… knows about secrets… Sylvarant."

Dread grew in my stomach as realization dawned on me.

They were talking about me. Zeke was speaking now.

"… more precautious side of me… turn her over to the King."

"You wouldn't. She reminds you too much… his little sister."

"Shut up… I know that."

Slightly confused and rather alarmed, I kept my ear pressed tightly to the floorboards.

"Play it safe… turn her in, or keep her around?"

"She's odd… no doubt… keeping her around."

"I knew you'd decide that… won't stop you."

"Thanks, Zelos."

Their conversation apparently over, I sat up, frowning. They were talking about me, and how I was suspicious… _Damn it. I never should have let that Sylvarant comment slip_, I thought sourly to myself as I climbed into bed, settling under the sheet and blanket. _But… Zeke defended me, didn't he? He said he wanted to keep me around._ Comforted by this thought, I smiled to myself. I liked Ezekiel. He was a good guy.

I yawned again, and then sleep took me.

* * *

A/N: Blah. Mostly a chapter to get some more vital info on the storyboard. I'm not super duper proud of this chapter, but it gets stuff done. -kicks Ezekiel-

Ezekiel: Ow! Jerk… Please review so that Con will stop drawing me in girly outfits like maid costumes and tutus… She's destroying my image.

Me: Muahahaha!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Bwahaha! Another chapter! I am on a ROLL with this whole thing!

In which Faith angsts over things she's lost, learns that Zelos' motives are not aflways the purest, and gets a present…

* * *

I have always hated mornings. Ever since I was a small child,f I was a late sleeper. Hell, there had been days when, instead of waking up for school, I'd just keep sleeping. On one occasion, I hadn't woken up until 4:30 in the afternoon, bounding out of bed just in time to dress and see my father driving up the driveway after coming home from work.

Therefore, when the morning sun shone into my bedroom and directly onto my eyes, I was rather unhappy. It was as if it were telling me in a cheerful voice to get up and greet the day.

_Good morning, Faith! It's the ungodly hour of eight o' clock! Time to get up!_

Fuck off, sun. I'm trying to sleep.

_But, Faith! The birds are singing! I'm shining! It's a wonderful day! You really should get up and enjoy it!_

Did you not hear me, Mr. Sun? I said screw off. I'm sleeping in today.

_Oh, no you aren't! You have to go get that maid job at the castle!_

Oh, great. Cleaning. My most favoritest pastime ever… Not. Thanks for reminding me, sun…

_Fine. Stay in bed. Not my problem… Though you won't get any of those delicious smelling chocolate-chip pancakes Zeke's making downstairs. Zelos will certainly eat them all before you even get there if you don't get up soon._

Choco-wha?

Grumbling at the prospect of waking up but led by my nose, (which smelled something damn good) I rose from bed clumsily. The sun had been right! There was chocolate downstairs! Blinking the sleep away, I moved toward the door to the hall, and turned the handle before noticing my reflection in the mirror.

Like hell I was going downstairs in my nightgown, Zelos or no!

Dashing to the closet, I picked a deep purple tunic from its hanger and threw it on, shimmying into a pair of brown pants. Adding a black belt with a gold buckle, my black boots I'd already grown accustomed to wearing, and my black leather fingerless gloves, I inspected myself in the mirror.

Not too shabby.

Flattening a cowlick on top of my head and twisting the locks that hung in my face so they curled cutely over my forehead, I opened the bedroom door and dashed happily down the stairs. Screw the sun, but chocolate? Now that merited a good morning!

"Morning!" I announced presence loudly as I slid down the banister and nearly fell off at the bottom. Stumbling into the kitchen, I grinned embarrassedly and sat at the table.

Zelos was already there, looking his immaculate best. Instead of his pink vest ensemble, which he wore throughout the whole video game and which he'd been wearing the day before, I noticed he was wearing a light grey romantic pirate shirt with billowing sleeves that were the widest right at the lower forearm before tapering to a tight cuff around the wrist. His white pants had been replaced with a pair of midnight blue ones, so dark they were almost black, and he wore big brown leather boots. He'd also left his headband off and pulled his hair into a ponytail, causing his bangs to cascade into his face, accumulating on the right side of his forehead.

_Incredible_, I thought as I stared at him in surprise. _In the game, Zelos is bound to one recognizable outfit, but in real life… he has a wardrobe!_ This discovery left me gaping at the Chosen, who simply winked at me and cocked his head.

"Like what you see?" he asked playfully, snapping me back to my senses. I shot a glare at him, and Ezekiel chuckled from across the kitchen. He was dressed all in black, wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed biceps I didn't realize he had, and a pair of relatively tight pants with black leather boots. A belt around his torso completed the almost rebellious look. I noted with a tone of amusement that any quick comparison of the two men in the room would leave a fangirl forgetting about Zelos and drooling all over Zeke in an instant.

"Now, now, Zelos. Let her wake up properly before you start playing that game." He said, filling Zelos' empty plate with pancakes and placing a full plate down for me. I grinned at my companion, sat at the table and dug into my breakfast. Sighing with content, I ate quickly. Zelos simply shrugged, tucking into his next plate as well. The kitchen was quiet as the Chosen and I cruelly maimed each of our pancakes, before circling round to finish them off. Finally, we pushed our empty plates aside. (I did so with a small feeling of satisfaction at having finished first. I never said I wasn't at least a little bit competitive)

"So, all set to get a job, slacker?" Zelos asked lightheartedly and I simply rolled my eyes.

"I will when you do." I replied sharply and the longhaired male laughed.

"Come on! My job is giving the ladies of Tethe'Alla someone to love!" he replied with a sexy smirk. I simply shook my head and turned to Ezekiel instead, hoping he'd provide some relief from the walking peanut gallery sitting across the table from me. He chuckled and leaned on the counter.

"About that job. You really want to take it?" he asked, tilting his head slightly and regarding me with a small smile. I glanced at him curiously, watching the corner of his one visible (and suspected only) eye crinkle in a good-natured expression. I nodded determinedly.

"Yes. Zelos may be dumb most of the time, but he brought up a good point last night."

"Hey!"

"What I mean is, you can't pay for everything for me. I need to be able to take care of myself, or you're going to have me around as deadweight forever, and even if you're okay with that, I don't think I could stand it." I said with a guilty grin at Zelos. The Chosen pouted entertainingly as Ezekiel considered what I'd told him. Finally, with a sound of agreement, he nodded.

"I understand. Well, then. Let's head for the castle, shall we?" he suggested, pushing off from the counter. Zelos and I both nodded and vacated our seats, following him out of the house.

The streets were warm already with the morning sun and I could tell the day was probably going to get pretty hot. Thankful I'd picked relatively thin clothes, I smiled and simply enjoyed the almost balmy air that rode the breeze down the road. The three of us were all quiet as he headed toward the main square of the Nobles' District. I supposed it was because the walk was pleasant and speaking would have ruined the moment.

However, in my mind I was noticing how different this place was from my home. Everything felt completely unlike my own world. The clear air, free from pollution, the diverse people, the fascinating layout of the city, with its suspended platforms and multiple levels… I was starting to really love it here. If only my family were here with me.

My family… I sighed, closing my eyes as I walked. I began to picture my mother, with her shoulder-length hair. I recalled her small build and the attitude that made up for the lack in size. I fondly remembered her impish grin… the one she'd use when she knew she'd been caught doing something. She had been the reason I'd learned how to bake and how to swing poi. She was the reason I was strong.

Then there was my dad with his long, blonde, and rebelliously frizzy hair. He had a huge heart, which I'd apparently gotten from him. I'd also inherited his good musical ear and his inherent skill for all things art. He was tall, almost to the point of being awkward, and he had a temper like a bull sometimes, but I loved him with all my heart. I remembered sitting and playing drums and guitar with him, just for the sake of making music.

What _were_ my parents doing right now? Were they still searching for me, hoping I'd turn up somewhere? Obviously, by this point, the search for me by the police would have ended, right? But my parents would still be hopeful, wouldn't they? They'd know I wouldn't just up and disappear. Not without saying goodbye. I loved them too much to do that.

And yet… wasn't that exactly what I'd done?

My breath caught in my chest and came out shuddering and shaky, just as we reached the garden, and it didn't go unnoticed by either male, who both stood on either side and gently steered me toward a bench nearby. I sat down just in time for a tear to break through and slide down my cheek, seeking freedom. I swallowed with some difficulty and looked up with wet eyes at Zelos and Zeke, who were both standing and looking completely unsure as to what to say.

Sighing, Zeke finally sat next to me, breaking the awkward silence by wiping another tear off my cheek and smiling gently.

"What's wrong, hon? Did you remember something, or was it just a flash of emotion?" he asked softly, and I shrugged.

"I… I think my parents miss me. I… I miss them. I don't remember them, but… I miss them…" I said, sniffling dismally. I felt pathetic, breaking down in front of both men and I glanced up, half expecting Zelos to be waiting impatiently for my emotions to die down. However, that was not the case. Quite the opposite, in fact, for Zelos sat down on my other side the moment I glanced at him, a sad look of sympathy on his features. I blinked, simply staring at that expression until I had to look away. Ezekiel placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Wherever they are, they do miss you. I'm sure they're looking for you, Faith." He said kindly, pulling me into a one-armed hug. Zelos nodded with a half-hearted smile.

"And until you find them, or they find you, you've got us here. One handsome guy for each arm." He offered lightheartedly, gently ruffling up my hair. The actions of both men were so… caring that I couldn't help but smile, despite the tears.

"… Thanks, guys. Really." I said quietly, nodding and wiping at my eyes with the backs of my gloved hands. Zelos drew a handkerchief from his pants pocket and passed it to me. I took it, surprised a guy like him would carry a kerchief around. However, I was grateful for it and smiled, dabbing my eyes dry properly.

"No little lady as pretty as you should ever have reason to cry, so try to keep smiling for me, okay?" Zelos said with a grin as he accepted the hankie back. "Life's not all that bad." I nodded, smiling a bit wider and giving him a quick hug, before pulling back and doing the same for Ezekiel.

"You're right." I said, standing. "Moping and crying isn't going to get me anywhere. I… I need to be strong and move onto the next step in my life, even if that's learning to be self-sufficient without my family until the time comes that I can see them again." I spoke firmly, more to convince myself than the other two. However, Ezekiel gazed at me with pride in his eyes.

"A good decision." He said, standing as well and clapping me on the shoulder. Zelos stood as well, chuckling.

"Well, shall we get going and get our little Faithy that job?" he asked playfully and I glared.

"Not little."

We all laughed, and the laughter was healing.

* * *

The castle was beautiful and powerful looking, looming over me in an intimidating manner. I felt nervous just moving toward it, but Zeke and Zelos simply smiled as we moved toward the scary building. Eventually, Zeke clapped me on the shoulder.

"This is my turn-off. Got to hit a couple markets." He said, indicating the massive staircase. "Zelos. You want to come along, or do you have business at the castle?" Zelos shook his head.

"I'll go in with Faith. Make sure there are no hitches in her getting this job. Besides, I'm… friends with the head maid, Mariposa." A chuckle here indicated that perhaps friends was a term too light for their relationship. Ezekiel seemed to think so and simply rolled his eyes.

"Alright. Take care of her." He replied, heading down the stairs. Zelos saluted mockingly and turned the opposite direction, beckoning for me to follow him. I did so hesitantly, glancing warily at the guards who stood on either side of the door. Noticing my discomfort, the Chosen simply smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Morning, guys. Any chance of me and my little lady getting in?" He calmly asked the guards. They looked at each other, then nodded and stepped aside, allowing us passage.

"Have a good day, Mr. Chosen." On said, saluting.

"And you as well, little lady." The other finished. Zelos chuckled in response, feeling me bristle with indignation as he pushed the door open and led me inside. As soon as we were in, I shimmied out of his grip and pouted.

"Little lady? Seriously?" I asked, sounding as annoyed as I could. He simply grinned and shrugged.

"Had to get you in somehow. What better way than calling you my date?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes, already exasperated.

"Charming. So… this head maid you were talking about. Where are we going to find her?" I asked impatiently and Zelos shrugged.

"Probably the maids' chambers. It's too early for her to be working about the house." He replied, gesturing to and then heading for a doorway to our right. I followed the Chosen closely, not wanting to get lost in such a big place. Admittedly, my sense of direction was pathetic, at best. I got lost way too easily… As we walked, I looked around.

The castle, from what I could remember of it from the game, wasn't too much different. The only differences were the fact that there were now at least four floors to the building, and the large atrium-like areas in the right and left wings of the castle in the game now had doorways in each of them that led to separate hallways, and there was a whole area where the staff lived. I was impressed by the sheer size of the place and made sure to stick close to Zelos, despite my wandering eyes. Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking, but could only have been a few impatient minutes, the ruby-haired male stopped in front of a door. Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice and walked right into him, yelping as I nearly fell backwards. Luckily, his reflexes were faster than mine and an arm shot out to wrap around my waist and right my balance before I landed embarrassingly on my butt.

"Uh… Thanks." I said, flushing slightly. Zelos simply grinned.

"Best not to do that while you're cleaning things. Don't want to break things, now do you?" he said as he rapped on the door. There was silence for a few moments before a muffled voice came from the other side of the wood.

"Come in!" Zelos, needing no second invitation, opened the door with a grin.

"Good morning, beautiful!" he exclaimed happily, stepping inside. The room was nice, furnished like a living room. Attached to it, there was a hallway, and it was from this hallway that a platinum blonde young woman emerged, wiping her hands on an apron.

"Good morning, Master Zelos." She said with a patient smile. The Chosen grinned, going over and kissing the girl's forehead before sitting on the couch.

"How's my favorite hunny doing on this fine morning?" he asked playfully, prompting the girl to blush and giggle.

"Fine. And yourself?" she asked, sitting beside him. Zelos shrugged and smiled charmingly, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. Meanwhile, I remained by the door, feeling rather awkward. How was it I always ended up feeling like a third wheel in these sorts of situations?

"I'm alright." I heard Zelos say softly and then he glanced at me, beckoning for me to come sit down as well. I gave him a tentatively before shaking my head. Great. What a perfect time to show off my horribly shy side… Shrugging again, Zelos just continued. "Mari, I need a favor." He said seriously. The blonde girl, who I now understood was Mariposa, nodded.

"Anything, Chosen." She replied, eager to serve. I wandered across a twisted thought, looking bluntly at the sugar-coated expression the girl was giving him. If most women acted this way around Zelos, with a little bit of creativity and effort, that man could have his own harem! I forced down a chuckle as Zelos spoke again.

"Well, my little hunny here, Faith, needs a job. I know the castle's in need of a few more maids, so do you think…?" he trailed off, looking hopefully at the young woman, whose smile simply grew brighter by a few hundred more watts.

"Oh, I don't see why I couldn't. After all, we do need some more girls, and if it's for you…" her sentence ended with a giggle and I started to feel my teeth ache as Zelos grinned and kissed Mariposa on the cheek.

"Thanks, babe. You're amazing." He spoke with another cavity-inducing smile as Mariposa giggled again and stood.

"Come on, Faith, was it? Let's get you a uniform." She said to me, taking my hand and leading me down a hall and into another room. Zelos simply waved, still comfortable on the couch as he watched us go. Going down the hall and into the door the farthest down on the right, Mariposa closed it behind me and then turned on me. "So…" she said, her tone suddenly much less cheerful as she sized me up. I blinked and shifted uncomfortably.

"Y-Yeah?" I asked, glancing about the room. It was dim, and I could see a bed and a dresser at one end, and a desk at the other. I realized this was probably Mariposa's own room. The blonde simply stared me down for a few more moments before finally speaking.

"What's your relationship with Master Zelos?" she snapped and I realized my presence was creating jealousy. I let out a full breath of air and laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about that. We're just friends. Honest!" I said, holding my hands up. "He's not really my type. At all." Well, that could have been considered a lie. After all, he was the one character in Tales of Symphonia I fangirled over the hardest, but in real life? There was no comparison. Yeah, he was still a horndog and all, but it was different and I didn't feel myself needing to fawn over him or swoon when he walked into the room. (much to my great relief!) Mariposa took another long moment to stare at me before judging that there was no infatuation between the Chosen and myself.

"Oh, alright. I just had to figure out if you were competition or not." She said with a sudden bubbly smile. She then moved to the dresser across the room and began to pull out clothes. "What's your size?" she asked as she rummaged through the drawers.

"Uhhh…" Wow. It's bad when one doesn't even know their own size. I shrugged just as Mariposa turned toward me and she frowned.

"You don't even know?" With an exasperated sigh, she marched over and checked my size, pulling out a measuring tape from somewhere in the large pocket on her apron. She wrapped it around my waist, then my bust and hips, finally checking my overall height. This seemed to satisfy her and she returned to the closet to continue digging through clothes. "Ah! Here we are!"

I took one glance at the uniform and my stomach twisted.

"Oh _hell_ no!" I exclaimed, shaking my head. Mariposa was confused.

"What's wrong? This is what all the maids wear." She said, tilting her head.

"You're not! You've just got a regular dress and an apron on!"

"Silly. My shift hasn't even started yet. This is just what I always wear."

"Excuse me?" With a sick moment of realization, I discovered why the male sitting in the other room had been so eager to offer me this job. I was going to murder Zelos. I seriously was.

* * *

I felt very stupid ten minutes later, once I was completely changed. I was wearing a knee length black dress with a pale pink crenoline underneath, a ruffly white apron on top, white leggings, black Mary Jane style shoes and a pink bowtie that matched the lacy underskirt perfectly.

I felt like a French maid, and unfortunately… that was exactly what I looked like.

"Aw, you look _so_ cute in it!" Mariposa gushed and I crossed my arms, pouting.

"I am not leaving the room like this." I stated firmly, glaring down at t he costume-y outfit I'd been forced into. The blonde before me sighed and shook her head. She'd taken half the time I had to change and was standing in her uniform as well. It looked way better on her than it did on me. That was for sure…

"Come on, Faith. My shift starts soon and you're coming with me to do your training." Before I had a chance to protest, the short woman was ushering me out the door and down the hall.

"No! No way! I am not letting anyone see me like this! Especially. Not. _Him_!" On the last word, Mariposa managed to shove me out of the hall and into the living area where Zelos was still lounging on the couch. The redhead had sat up at the sound of the commotion and now his expression had become nearly lecherous.

"Not bad, Faith. You clean up nice." He said playfully as he stood and circled me like a wild cat does with its prey. I growled at him and stomped over to the couch, stealing his spot on it.

"I hate you, you… you… philanderer!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms over the low-cut line of the dress. Before today, I hadn't even known I had cleavage.

"Aw, come on. It's not that bad." Mariposa offered from the doorway. "You look cute in it!" I huffed stubbornly and shook my head in response and Zelos sighed.

"Honestly, we're telling the truth, Faith. You look _really_ cute." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"… You realize I can't even remember the last time I wore a dress? Amnesia or not, I'm sure it's been years…" I snapped before standing. "I guess I can't help it, though. I get why you wanted me to take this job now, and I have to say, you're sneaky…" Zelos grinned deviously and shrugged.

"I figured the uniform would look cute on you." He said roguishly and I sighed, shaking my head. "… If it's any consolation, I was completely right." The male finished with a chuckle and I glared at him. After a few moments, though, my expression softened.

"Gee, thanks…" I sighed, flopping back onto the couch. Mariposa tapped her foot, placing her hands on her hips.

"Come on, Faith. Let's go start your training." She said with a gentle smile. I stood again and walked across the room with heavy steps. As I passed by Zelos, I felt a pat on my rear and yelped, spinning to face the Chosen.

"What the hell was _that_?"

"What was what~?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Zelos."

"I'm not sure I do, Faithy."

"You _ever_ do that again, and I _will_ kill you." I snarled, placing my hands over my ass to defend myself. The redhead simply grinned and ruffled my hair once more.

"Have fun today, hunnies!" he said as he stepped past Mariposa and out of the room. I simply glowered, watching him go. Once he was gone, the blonde woman across from me smiled softly.

"Shall we get to work?" she asked as she turned toward the door. I nodded and followed her, deciding I'd already agreed to do it, so I'd better get on with it and at least earn some gald.

What had I gotten myself into?

* * *

The markets were bustling as usual as Ezekiel weaved his way through the crowds. He'd already been to the Battle Market and bought a pair of medium-sized elemental weights. It had taken a while to bargain with the stand owner, but finally, the round, metal weights with loops at one end had been bought and stored in Zeke's bag. Now, he had moved further down the staircase to the market on the opposite side of the Food Market, called the Supplies Market

Pushing through crowds, the male knew exactly what he needed. It would just be a challenge to find it… After all, most rope used for adventuring wasn't refined like what he needed… He'd looked all over in the Battle Market, but found no cord like what he was looking for. The only other option if he couldn't find a rope or cord that would work was a chain, and he didn't want it to be too noisy or ungainly…

"Hey, handsome." The voice startled him and Ezekiel jumped nearly a foot in the air as a hand came down on his shoulder. He wheeled around to glare at Zelos.

"You scared the shit out of me!" he yelled, shifting his bag slightly so the strap didn't cut into his shoulder. Zelos simply plastered his trademark grin across his face. Ezekiel let out an incensed sigh and looked around. "Faith is at the castle, then?"

"Yup." Zelos replied, nodding. "She was really pissed at me." He chuckled to himself and Zeke shook his head.

"She'll find a way to get back at you, I'm sure, so keep your eyes open." He replied, turning and continuing to glance through stalls in the market. "In the meantime, help me out." He gestured to the stands. "I'm looking for a durable chain. Cord seems to be in short supply right now, and the quality is horrible, so I need a pair of equal lengths of chain." He explained. The Chosen gave him an inquisitive stare.

"Why do you need that?" He asked lazily, glancing about the shops. "You don't have anything at home you should need to chain down." Ezekiel shook his head.

"Quite the contrary. I just bought a pair of weights and I intend to turn them into something for Faith." He explained, stopping at a stand that sold many things. His eyes, in particular, had caught a long length of chain hanging off the back display wall. Zelos scoffed.

"A gift for a girl that involves weights and chains? How romantic." He sighed sarcastically, shaking his head. "Seriously, you have no idea how to woo a lady… Don't you know the kinky stuff comes way later in the relationship?"

"I'm not _trying_ to woo her, despite your… rather twisted beliefs." Ezekiel said over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the man running the stand. " Do you have a match for that chain? You do? Great! I'll take both, then. And besides, Zelos. She's too young for me and, well, not my type." He grinned at this statement and the longer-haired redhead rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I get it. You prefer your ladies… not ladies. I won't judge you, since Riccio's a nice enough guy." He said, shrugging. However, his expression then turned serious. "Although… speaking of Riccio, what are your thoughts on what's been going on around him and his research?" Ezekiel sighed, tucking both lengths of newly bought chain into his bag. His tone became quiet as he continued speaking, glancing around them to make sure nobody was listening to their conversation.

"I… don't know. I mean, he didn't tell me he was going to... Sylvarant until the last minute… Either way, though, I can understand him going for research. After all, Sheena went recently too, didn't she?" Zelos smiled at the thought of the ninja and shook his head with a chuckle, listening as Ezekiel continued. "But… his lab burning down just after he left? That can't have been an accident. He's not going to be happy when he finds out all his research materials are gone. Especially since he's been working in that lab for a few years now. He's lost so much… I really feel bad." The Chosen nodded sympathetically.

"I understand how you feel. It's going to really suck when Ric gets back… Hopefully, though, he's got some of his work backed up somewhere so he hasn't lost it all. Do you know what he was researching at all?" he asked, and Ezekiel shrugged, turning to walk toward the opening of the Market.

"Not really sure. I'm pretty sure a lot of it was really hushed up among the researchers. I know it was something about Exspheres, though… Apparently Riccio was working alongside the Sybak Research Institute as well, which really leaves me wondering. I guess we won't really know anything until he gets back, whenever that is. If the Church sent him over there for some reason like to shut him up, he might not come back at all." Seeming upset by this thought, Ezekiel sighed softly and shifted his bag again as he began ascending the huge staircase. Zelos kept in step with him.

"You can't think like that, Zeke. You know Riccio as well as I do. He's a damn resilient guy and when he wants to do something, he does it." He said reassuringly as they both climbed the stairs slowly, Ezekiel weighed down by the metal in his bag. "You just have to believe in the guy, alright?" the Chosen finished, glancing at Ezekiel gently. The shorter haired redhead nodded, smiling softly.

"Thanks, Zelos. Now, let's get home so I can work on my gift for Faith." He said, sounding much more cheerful. Zelos grinned.

"Gotcha. Let's go make bondage stuff to try and woo Faithy with!"

"I told you it's not… oh, never mind…"

* * *

By the time I got out of that uniform, I'd never been so thankful for regular clothes…

The day had been busy, full of bed-making, dusting, laundry and dishes. While it wasn't the most fun work I could think of, having Mariposa around to talk to was rather nice. Despite her mad infatuation with Zelos, she really was rather sweet and intelligent. I appreciated her company greatly as we worked. By late afternoon, early evening, I ached from all the work we'd done all over the castle and I stumbled into my purple tunic and pants, groaning. A quick goodbye to Mariposa and I headed out, exiting the castle tiredly.

I'd already managed to break a vase and nearly fall down a flight of stairs while working that day. Mariposa had fondly called me klutzy, but it went nearly beyond that. I sighed as I thought back over my mishaps and decided that I would never be an effective fighter in this world and that I'd better get used to hiding behind the people that could defend themselves. Though, honestly, what skills did I really have at my disposal? Nothing that made for any use in this world. I felt myself grow a little heavier as I realized I was pretty much useless and I wrinkled my nose in irritation. Great. Being useless in a fantasy video game world? Best thing that's ever happened to me. Not.

From the castle, it was easy to get back to the gardens and through a bit of trial and error (and an embarrassing moment where I had to admit to a gardener that I was hopelessly lost and get directions,) I managed to find my way back to the square of the Nobles' District. From there, it was a matter of remembering which lane Zelos had pointed out the day before and wander down it until I saw Zeke's house. Smiling as I spotted his place, I jogged up the front steps and turned the handle. It clicked and the door opened, creaking invitingly.

"Hello?" I called as I stepped inside, immediately barraged by the delicious smell of spaghetti sauce. Ezekiel's voice rang out through the kitchen.

"Hey, Faith! C'mon in! We're in the kitchen!" From the 'we', I assumed the freeloader Zelos had invited himself for dinner again and I sighed to myself, smiling. I headed into the kitchen, which was alive with scents and conversation. I plopped myself lazily at the table, next to Zelos.

"Don't you have a home to go live in?" I asked playfully, and the ruby-haired Chosen stuck his tongue out at me. I giggled and shrugged. "After this morning, I deserve a few shots at you, so don't even complain." I reminded him, and Zelos sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose you do…" Ezekiel smiled as he poured thick spaghetti sauce onto three plates of pasta.

"So, how was work today? Did you get lots done?" he asked in a fatherly tone. I picked up my fork eagerly as the plate was laid before me.

"Yeah. It was busy… I really, _really_ ache, though. I'll probably take a bath later tonight." I replied cheerfully as I mowed into my dinner ravenously. Zelos seemed amused and opened his mouth to speak, but I shot him a pointed glare that said _You've already had your fun for today. Shut up._ He narrowed his eyes and shot a look back at me.

_You think I'd ever limit the amount of fun I have? _His look said, and I smirked back at him.

_You'd better if you know what's good for you_. Mine replied, and Zelos simply grinned cockily at me, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

_Whatever. Have fun thinking of me in the bath tonight, hunny._ My eyes widened as I figured out what he meant and my glare returned, this time accentuated with what I was sure was a noticeably bright blush.

_Burn in hell, Idiot Chosen._ I quickly turned my attention to my dinner, in order to avoid having to look at Zelos' victorious expression. Meanwhile, Ezekiel sat at the table, looking back and forth between me and his friend, looking rather confused.

"So… to start a conversation we can all actually hear, as fun and creepy as it is watching you two talk to each other telepathically or something…" he began hesitantly. I happily turned my attention to him, tilting my head as I slurped a noodle that had been making a break for freedom. "Uh, Faith. Zelos and I spent the afternoon working on a little gift for you." He explained as I swallowed my mouthful of spaghetti and frowned slightly.

"What kind of gift?" I asked, eyeing Zelos in the corner of my vision. The Chosen grinned impishly.

"Bondage gear!" he exclaimed and Ezekiel reached out, smacking the lecherous male in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Putting aside Zelos' crappy sense of humor, I overheard you mention a couple of your hobbies last night, and I thought that I could probably provide you something to practice one of those hobbies with." He explained, standing and ignoring a pouting Chosen as he headed for the living room and came back with a box, wrapped in golden paper. "It'll also be useful if you ever have the need to defend yourself." Curiosity overtook me as Ezekiel took my already empty plate and placed the box in its place instead.

I almost instantly began to tear excitedly at the gold wrapping paper. I'd always been the kid to get overexcited when it came to Christmas or my birthday, or even just getting mail. I was always known to have to rip and tear the packaging to get into it as fast as I possibly could. As I managed to remove the paper from the box and lift the lid, my eyebrows went up in surprise. Had he really…? Reaching in and grabbing a black, leather strap that had been stitched into a loop and had a chain attached, I pulled on it carefully and the rest of the object came out, hanging from its handle. A metal weight hung on the end of the four foot chain, and when I held it out at arm's length, it hung a few inches above the ground. I reached into the box again, pulling out the second object, which was the same, except the chain was almost a foot shorter. As I held them out and watched them dangle, realization dawned on me.

These were really cool, really badass metal poi.

Seriously. Who gets metal poi? Like, ever?

Apparently, I did.

"Zeke, Zelos, these…" I couldn't find my voice. It had simply dropped out of my throat to land somewhere among my stomach. "Y-You guys…" Ezekiel looked a bit alarmed.

"Do you… not like them?" he asked with a concerned look on his face. "You don't have to keep them if you don't like them. I can always sell them or something." I shook my head quickly to kill the dismal thought pattern creating itself in Zeke's mind.

"I love them." I replied with a bright smile. "Thank you… both of you." I leaned over and hugged Zelos quickly and the Chosen chuckled, pointing at Zeke.

"I have to admit, they were mostly his idea." He said, and Ezekiel narrowed his eyes playfully.

"Mostly? Where did you get that from?" He asked and Zelos grinned.

"Well, obviously I gave you the idea, right? If I hadn't asked Faith's hobbies, you never would have known she was into that sort of thing." He explained and Ezekiel scoffed.

"Uh huh. But that doesn't mean you gave me the idea to make them- Oof!" The redhead stumbled as I crashed into him, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks, Zeke. I really appreciate them. They're so cool." I said happily, keeping my arms wrapped around the older male's waist. He smiled and hugged me back.

"No problem, hon. Glad to see they made you so happy." He replied, letting me go. I grinned, swinging the poi experimentally. The weights were the perfect size, but… what kind of metal were they made of? It looked almost reflective, and it was rather dark.

"What're they made of?" I asked, placing the weight on the table and inspecting it. Ezekiel chuckled, taking the metal ball and tossing it in the air, catching it as it came back down.

"Now, that's a good question. Let's take them outside and I'll show you." He offered, practically ushering me toward the door. I moved accordingly, reaching the back door and heading out into the tall fenced back yard. Once I was in an open space, I swung the poi, which I figured could be used as weapons as well, getting a feel for them. They were heavier than my jump rope and tennis ball practice ones I'd had at home, and they required more muscle to swing, but I quickly got the hang of it. The two redheads stood off to one side, watching me get a feel for them. Once I was doing criss-crosses and swinging them above my head, Ezekiel stepped forward, prompting me to stop. He chuckled and I grinned eagerly.

"Gonna show me how they work now?" I asked, holding them up. Zeke nodded, closing his eyes.

"_Icicle_!" The spell startled me and I jumped, expecting to see the ice rise out of the ground and strike me. However, no such thing happened. Instead, the ice moved swiftly toward me before accumulating on the metal weights of the poi, creating two spiked ice balls. My eyes widened.

"Cool!" I exclaimed as I spun the weapons again. They emitted cold waves of air as they whisked through the air and I grinned, very much entertained by them. "Can they use other elements?" I asked eagerly, practically wagging the tail I didn't have. Ezekiel nodded, closing his eyes once again.

"_Fire Ball_!" he exclaimed and flames ignited on the weapons in my hands, becoming giant fireballs, with a metal center. I smirked, swinging the weapons in a large figure eight and watching the flames linger in the air. "They're made of Elemental Ore." I heard Zeke explain as I practiced. "It absorbs any elemental influence around it that's concentrated in an attack. If you're careful with what elements you're working with, you can really get some cool effects and useful combos." I nodded and dropped my arms, already starting to ache again after my long day of working and now swinging large metal weights around my body. I carefully placed the poi on the ground, hoping the fire wouldn't scorch the lawn or, worse yet, set it on fire. As soon as my skin left contact with the weapons, however, the flames died out, leaving only the original metal poi. Again, I launched myself at Zeke, nearly tackling him right off his feet.

"They're so amazing! Thank you!" I exclaimed happily, nuzzling into his chest. The man laughed and hugged me back.

"Great. Well, you should start practicing with them. If you get really good, you could probably enter some beginner matches in the arena or something." He said cheerfully. "Those earn way more money than any maid job does." I nodded, smiling as I let him go and gave Zelos the same treatment, succeeding in knocking the Chosen off his feet.

"And thank you for helping make them, Zelos." I said with a giggle as I sat on his chest, pinning his arms to his sides with my legs. "You really can be sweet when you're not being a massive pervert." I said, tapping the redhead's nose. He chuckled and attempted to snap playfully at my finger.

"No problem, Little Lady." He replied with a smile, managing to muscle his way into a sitting position, which caused me to squeak as I rolled off his chest. "Use them wisely… and that doesn't mean coming after me with them." He put his hands up defensively and I smirked, punching one of the open palms good-naturedly. "Now, now!" the Chosen exclaimed with a laugh as he blocked my soft punches easily. "You've got a violent one, Zeke! I bet she could definitely hold her own in the arenas!"

"Oh, I wouldn't be surprised." Ezekiel replied with a smile as he crossed his arms and tilted his head. I grinned, looking from Zelos to Zeke and standing. I stretched my arms above my head, feeling my spine pop comfortably.

"Okay, I think it's my bath time." I said as I felt a few muscles complain with mild aches and pains. "Then I believe I'll be off to bed, so I'll say my goodnights now." After another quick hug from each male, I gathered my new poi, headed upstairs and lounged about in the bath for a while. Clean and comfy, I returned to my room, hanging the poi up on the end of the bed. Finally changing into my nightgown, I yawned and curled up in bed, drifting off almost immediately.

I really should've expected that Zeke and Zelos would be the masters of foreshadowing, but at that point, I was just too damn tired.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Long chapter is long. Sixteen whole pages. That's, like… seven more than I usually write. Faith's got her weapon now. Not exactly as conventional a weapon as most people would expect, but damn useful. I swing poi and even the tennis balls hurt to get in the head or the groin if you move wrong while spinning them. Pretty sure I've ended up with a lovely bruise every time I've used them.

Ezekiel: That's because you're a klutz.

Me: A klutz who punches hard.

Ezekiel: You abuse me…

Me: Anyways… reviews make me happy and keep me eager to write more!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Wow. I'm actually really getting somewhere in this story. Enough mindless fun. Let's get on with the actual storyline!

In which battles are fought, messages are delivered, jobs are quit, Chosens are threatened with getting smacked and Con apologizes for taking so long on this chapter. Life's been busy.

Caution: Mentions of plot are closer than they appear.

* * *

Sigh.

…

Siiigh.

Is this what peace feels like? Because peace is boring.

I was sprawled comfortably under a tree in Zeke's back yard on the hottest summer morning I'd experienced in Meltokio so far. It had to be almost thirty degrees, I thought, recalling how I'd used Celsius back at home instead of Fahrenheit or Rellsys, as it was in Tethe'Alla. That made it almost… 90 degrees Rellsys, right? Three units Rellsys to one Celsius... thereabouts?

Learning new vocabulary had been quite a challenge without giving away the extent of my 'amnesia'. I'd spent a lot of time just listening to Zeke and Zelos chat, picking up words and finding meanings for them in the way they fit in the conversation.

How long had it been since I'd been dropped in this world again? Three weeks? Almost four? I'd always been known to be forgetful, but to begin losing memory of what my home had been like was a scary experience. I was quickly adapting to life in Meltokio, and that frightened me. What if I changed so much that when I finally found a way to go home, I didn't want to? Worse, what if I did go back and my family didn't recognize me? I shivered, despite the blistering heat and sighed.

I missed my parents a lot. My cellphone's carefully cared for battery had finally died the other day, taking the only photos I had of my parents and sister with it. I'd sat with the phone in my hands, crying until I couldn't cry anymore and feeling like a giant rift had just been made between me and home. I'd carefully tucked my phone back in its hiding place after that. Whether the battery was dead or not, it still had those pictures on it, and I wasn't going to lose them forever.

The phone's hiding place was with the rest of my things from my world: concealed in a hollow space under a floorboard in the closet. Ezekiel had shown me the spot when I told him I wanted to keep my things safe and hidden until I knew where they, and myself, had come from. The only people who even knew the spot existed were himself and I and I trusted him not to go through my personal things after I'd gone to such lengths to find a secure place to hide them.

Other than my internal angst, my adjustment to life in Meltokio had been going rather well. Although I could barely remember what the rumble of a car's engine sounded like, I could use gald confidently, having learned the money system early on. I also earned a fair amount of gald from my maid job, which allowed me to help with grocery shopping and even buy myself a few pieces of clothing that weren't hand-me-downs. I now owned and often wore a sleeveless, red, Chinese-style shirt that had yellow trim, a pair of black, leather leggings, a pair of white boots and I was saving up for a basic set of gold armor.

Sighing, I stood from my sprawled position and moved toward a branch on the tree I'd hung my poi from. Taking them down from their hanging place, I gave them both an experimental swing.

It had taken me no time at all to get back into the swing of using them, no pun intended. It really was like riding a bike: impossible to forget once learned. Alternating swings allowed me to cross the poi's motions over and I sighed, moving them above my head while still alternating their circular arcs. Eventually, I slowed down and let the poi swing in wide loops at my sides. Slowly, I sped them up, until they were moving so fast they were practically blurs at my sides. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

I'd never gotten far in either Capoeira or Aikido, but I could remember some of the basics of both, and I was sure I wasn't far off from a back flip. It was just going to take some delicate timing to use the momentum of the poi to send me that last bit that my body couldn't provide, and get me back onto my feet. Okay…

One…

Two…

Three.

I felt my feet leave the ground as I timed my jump with the swing of the poi and I arched my back, feeling gravity suddenly shift under me just as it was supposed to. Now, the challenge was keeping my spin fast enough that my feet would end up beneath me. My stomach seemed to drop as I felt my momentum slow and I prayed I wouldn't land on my neck and break it, or some other gruesome thing.

'Tmp' went my feet as they touched the ground and I opened my eyes, wobbling slightly. A grin slowly spread across my face. I'd managed to pull it off.

However, as my sensei had often said in Aikido, "Good. Now that you can do it, do it again until you do it right."

Time to practice.

* * *

It was nearly three hours later, drenched in sweat, that I managed to do a perfect back flip without even the aid of my poi. My feet left and reconnected with the ground in a matter of instants and I could even do it with my eyes open, now… something that had terrified me when I'd started earlier that morning. The temperature had only gotten hotter and I'd shed my red shirt in favor of my sports bra, which thankfully, was a common form of undergarment in Meltokio. The sweat dripped uncomfortably down my neck and I groaned, wiping it away. It was too hot to be training, but I was determined to keep it up. After all, Zeke had scheduled a tag match with himself and I in the arena for tomorrow, and I had to be able to hold my own. Grabbing my poi again, I swung them extra fast, flipping back and bringing the weapons up together in a wide arc as I did.

"Orbit!"

As my feet touched the ground again, I separated the poi just in time to avoid them hitting me painfully in the back and watched them loop up and around on either side of me in large arcs. As I slowed their movement to a stop, I heard clapping coming from the porch. Spinning around, I spotted two familiar redheads.

"Not bad, hunny. Not bad~" Zelos said as he grinned and leaned on the railing. I jogged over and nodded.

"Thanks. Don't call me that." I said quickly before turning to Ezekiel. "Want to practice some more?" I asked cheerfully. He sighed and smiled, shaking his head exasperatedly.

"It's a match in the Arena, not a pageant. One can only practice so much…" he attempted to reason, but I only shook my head and stared insistently.

"C'mon…" I whined playfully and the man laughed and covered his ears.

"Oh, not 'Whiny Faith'! My only weakness! Fine. Zelos, ass on the grass. We're taking you on."

"What?"

"You heard me Mr. Macho Chosen. Get out there. We need something to hit, and moving targets are always the best."

"Ouch… Glad to know you like me for my sparkling personality…" I giggled as Zelos slouched onto the grass and sighed heavily. "So unloved…" Ezekiel and I followed him, standing side by side and readying ourselves. Zelos cracked the bones in his neck and grinned, drawing his sword. "Alright, bring it."

With almost no casting time, Ezekiel raised a hand.

"Stalagmite!" he exclaimed before retreating to the back of the yard. Zelos yelped and jumped back, narrowly missing the spell's attack. He then clenched his jaw and ran at me, sword raised. I let out an 'eep!' and dodged sideways, swinging my poi in arcs around me as the redhead swordsman rounded on me, smirking.

"Bring it on, girly boy." I snarled at the confident expression and Zelos chuckled, thrusting his sword forward. I jumped back instinctively and brought my longer poi forward.

Clang!

The chain of my weapon collided with Zelos' sword, causing sparks to fly. The chain wrapped around the blade once, then twice, and held. Aqua eyes widened as I smirked and yanked my arm back. However, the redhead's grip held and he only stumbled forward before spinning and bringing his sword forward. I yelped as I was yanked toward Zelos' back and then I felt all the air rushing out of my stomach and chest as an elbow collided with my solar plexus. With a whimper, I tried to inhale and failed. In my incapacitation, the long-haired male untangled his weapon and distanced himself from me, just in time to dodge a well-aimed Eruption from Zeke. The swordsman wasn't completely successful and was clipped by the edge of the spell, growling as he was knocked back, looking a little singed.

I took a few moments to regain my breath before jumping back into the fray.

"Zeke! Hit me with something!" I yelled and the shorter-haired redhead nodded, quickly casting a spell.

"Icicle!" The spiked shards of ice fixed themselves to my weapons and the metal grew cold. I grinned darkly at Zelos, who narrowed his gaze at me, weary of my suddenly much more dangerous weapons. With a chuckle, I began running at him, swinging the poi backwards to give me more momentum. The redhead brought up his sword, expecting me to strike him with the poi. Instead, I spun around him at the last instant, so that while Zelos was still guarding, I was facing his back.

"Sub-Zero!"

My back flip began and the poi came up just as the Chosen spun, his instincts reacting quickly. However, they were not quick enough and Zelos cried out as he received a full icy uppercut from the heavy metal weights. The force of the hit knocked the man off his feet and sent him falling back. I stopped, standing back and waiting for him to stand again. After a few moments, he did so and glared.

"Now, it's really on…" he said in a low, growling voice. I saw the playful glint in his eyes remain, however and simply chuckled and stood back, tilting my head.

"Bring it, Old Man." I replied, swinging my poi in front of me, which only seemed to aggravate Zelos. He twitched, then smirked, darting at me quicker than I'd expected.

"Sonic Thrust!"

Shockwaves erupted around Zelos' sword and he thrust it toward me, knocking me back and making me wince.

"Ouch! Watch it!" I exclaimed as I landed on my rear and quickly forced myself back up onto my feet. Zelos simply chuckled.

"An eye for an eye." He replied, taking another stab at me. I jumped out of the way just in time to see a bolt of lightning drop from the sky over my attacker. It struck him, making him yelp and shake off the electricity that was likely doing more than stinging. I turned to Zeke and made eye contact and he nodded, readying a spell.

"Lightning!" The same attack crashed down over me, and my poi picked up the electricity. Sparks danced wildly up and down the chain and the weights and I held onto the leather of the handle, thankful they weren't traveling up that too. With my newly-charged weapons, I darted toward Zelos, who had dodged back to cast First Aid on himself. Immediately, he no longer looked as haggard and the deep scrape on his chin that my last attack had left disappeared without a trace. His grin only lasted an instant, however, as he saw the bright glow of my electric poi.

"Don't even think about it." He said, stepping out of my weapons' reach as I advanced playfully on him. I simply grinned at him and kept moving forward, swinging the poi back and forth.

Before I could do anything, however, there was a loud rumbling and I heard Zeke yell.

"Spread!" My reflexes were quicker than Zelos' in that instant and I jumped back, watching the Chosen get launched into the air with a comical yell and come back down on his feet, now quite soaked. Something clicked in my head as I looked from my sparking, electric weapons to Zelos in all his soggyness. Suddenly, I grinned madly and whirled around, bringing both poi in a wide circle around me.

"Electrify!" Even as Zelos moved backwards, knowing full well what I was planning on doing, the poi's sparks all erupted off the metal at once, just as they nearly missed him, and the Chosen got a full electric shock to the stomach. He grunted, dropping to one knee and clutching his abdomen.

"Nn… Ow! T-Time out!" I dropped my poi, immediately feeling bad for the huge attack and dropped to Zelos' side.

"You okay?" I asked in a concerned tone and I saw sapphire eyes look up with a cocky expression. I deadpanned as Zelos let out an obviously fake moan and fell backward, clutching his chest.

"I think I need mouth to mouth!" he exclaimed weakly and I simply stared blankly at him.

"Zeke, you know CPR, right?" I asked, and the spellcaster chuckled.

"I suppose you could say I do." He replied, crossing his arms and approaching. "I'll save Zelos." In an instant, the Chosen was sitting up and grinning nervously.

"Hey, look! I'm all better! Wow, what a coincidence!" he exclaimed and Zeke and I laughed. After that sparring match? I was almost excited for the match tomorrow.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit!" I dodged as quickly as I could, forcing my battered body away from the mace-wielding man that chased me down. Not only was he burly, but he was fast, and he'd been chasing me for the better part of five minutes, now. I yelped as I narrowly avoided being squished by the large metal ball the warrior had swung down at me.

"Quit runnin' away!" he snarled, lumbering quickly after me and I whined, running to the opposite side of the arena, where the witch stood, preparing a spell. I slid across the dirt ground, dodging underneath a horizontal swing. The attack whistled through the air inches above my head and I sighed in relief. However, my relief lasted no more than an instant as my momentum carried me even further and I crashed into the witch's legs, making her screech as her spell was interrupted and she was knocked over.

"Zeeeeke!" I yelled to the other side of the large circle, where my partner stood by, waiting for an opportunity. "Cast something, dammit! I'm getting mauuuuled!" I whined as I jumped over a low-swinging swipe from the mace. Retaliating, I swung my poi hard, catching the warrior in the face. He roared and stumbled back, a metal weight to the eye apparently not a pleasant feeling. His hesitation gave Ezekiel just enough time to cast a spell, smirking.

"Fire Ball!" The flames erupted around my poi and I smirked. Perfect. A chance to test my newest technique. When it was just normal, it was called Fissure. Now, though, with my poi ignited and deadly, I spun the weights forward at a haphazard speed and began to advance on the warrior before me who was suddenly less inclined to try and hit me and was backing away. Suddenly and without warning, I rushed forward and, spinning my weapons still, I jumped, bringing them down under me and pulling a front flip in the air, the flaming orbs spinning around me.

"Ignition!"

Many would consider the attack a rip off of Lloyd's Tempest, but I knew I couldn't do more than one flip in the air. The poi's heavy flails struck the warrior with a loud noise like roaring flames and he yelled, stumbling back from the impact. Meanwhile, I landed clumsily on my feet.

"Eruption!"

The spell came out of nowhere, and I saw the magic circle erupt around my feet. Gritting my teeth, I darted away as fast as I could. It was nowhere near fast enough, unfortunately, and I shrieked as I was launched in to the air by the series of explosions under me. The fire was hot and it burned, though not bad enough to truly leave marks. I whined as I hit the ground hard after the spell and struggled to stand. I could see the warrior was out, my fire attack having knocked him out cold. Ironic, really.

The witch, however, was grinning at me and tilting her head. I glared as I darted forward, swinging my longer poi over my head and my shorter at my side.

"You're mine!" I roared, lashing at her with the longer weapon. However, her reflexes were impressively quick and she jumped back, spinning suddenly and catching me in the jaw with her heel. I grunted at the pain and simply swung again, snarling. I heard Ezekiel murmur something behind me and smirked, whipping the poi down to catch the Aqua Edge he'd just cast in my direction. Immediately, the weapons became slick with water and blades of liquid sped out of them as I swung and sliced. The sudden elemental change seemed to catch the witch off guard and she stumbled in her calculated dodge, allowing me to move in with a fresh elemental attack.

"Torrent!"

The sudden shout startled the witch, allowing me the moment I needed to uppercut her with a wide blade of water, and then send her flying back with a poi to the stomach, releasing another large splash.

As the young woman collapsed in a puddle, groaning, a roar broke out among the crowds that had been watching the whole match. It was at this point I even remembered them, having been too involved in the battle to even notice. Now, the din from the crowds was incredible and I suddenly felt somebody hugging me happily. Finally catching my breath, I recognized Ezekiel with his arms around me, laughing and ruffling my hair.

"You were great, Faith! So cool!" he exclaimed, pulling away and squeezing my shoulders with a bright and proud smile on his face. I smiled back.

"We… won? We won!" I exclaimed, practically tackling him off his feet. Laughing together, we faced the crowds and both pumped our fists in the air, and in the noise of cheering and our joyous departure from the arena…

… I felt complete.

* * *

It was an hour later, having a group celebratory lunch, that Zelos (who'd been sitting front and center to our fight), decided to lay into the gossip.

"So, you've both heard about the King, right?" he asked, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Zeke and I both looked up curiously, watching as he chewed and swallowed. Zelos, judging by the looks on our faces, decided we had not heard. "He's sick, apparently. The Pope wants me to head to the castle later this afternoon to aid in the prayers for his recovery."

I paled visibly and choked on my mouthful of celery stick, prompting Zeke to jump and thump me heavily on the back. Coughing and gasping, I stared at Zelos incredulously.

No way. This was happening so soon?

But that would mean… Oh, great.

The plot had found me…

Zelos, taking my surprise differently, simply grinned and shrugged.

"I know, right? Hard to believe someone as good-looking as me is also so talented and important in this city, let alone this world." He boasted and a collective sigh from Ezekiel and myself filled the room. I cleared my throat and swallowed the food that had previously tried to kill me.

"Actually, I was wondering why they'd want somebody like you praying for the King's health." I shot back. "They want him to get better, not die off." This time, it was Zeke's turn to choke on his food, trying not to laugh. Zelos glared at us both, huffing and crossing his arms.

"Ouch, Faith. Harsh…" he said, shaking his head. I simply grinned playfully at him and shrugged.

"You love me anyways." I replied, finishing off my plate of veggies. Zelos grinned and stood.

"Well, I've got a date today with a few ladies, so I'd best get going." He said, stretching. "Thanks for lunch, Zeke." With that, the ruby-haired male left, leaving Ezekiel and I sitting alone at the table. Zeke sighed and shook his head.

"Careless Chosen. He's so promiscuous, going on a date with multiple women like that… It's horrible." He said with a good-natured smile. I nodded, looking at Zeke's expression. Was it just me, or did Zeke look a bit… sad? However, his face twisted into a look of frustration as he stood suddenly. "Shoot! I forgot!" he exclaimed, moving to the counter and picking up an envelope. "Faith, can you make sure Zelos gets this?" he asked, thrusting it into my hands. I blinked, looking at the crisp, white paper.

"A-ah… Sure." I replied, turning it over. It had a small bump in it, as if it contained not only a letter, but a small item and Zelos' name was written on it in the handsome scrawl I recognized as Ezekiel's. I could probably catch up to him on my way up to the castle for my shift… Wait, what time was it? A glance at the clock plunged my stomach into my feet. My shift started in barely ten minutes. "Shoot! I'm going to be late! Gotta go, Zeke! See you later!" I exclaimed, jumping up, grabbing my shoulder bag off the hook by the door, stuffing Zelos' letter inside it, and darting outside. I didn't even get a chance to glance back at my caretaker before I was gone.

The run from the Nobles' District to the Atrium of Martel was easy and quick, as I 'd learned my way about the upper parts of the city within only a couple weeks, but I grimaced, remembering that Mariposa had asked me to grab some scented soap from the Supplies Market before my shift. Cursing my horrible luck, I bounded down the stone steps toward the market platforms. Passing the Battle Market, I nearly stumbled, but managed to right myself just in time to make it down to the second platform, where the Luxuries Market was. However, I barreled past that as well, heading for the third and final landing in the massive staircase. As I reached it, as if in retaliation for forcing them to speed down the long length of stairs, my leg muscles seized up and I squeaked as I toppled down the last few steps…

… Into a large mass of solid red.

"Whoa! You okay?" The voice was altered just slightly from the voice actor who'd played him, but I recognized the concerned and headstrong tone anyways and looked up nervously. My chocolate eyes met matching orbs, tinted just a shade darker. They looked concerned at my startled appearance and I immediately jumped back out of the arms of my savior.

No. Hell no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no!

I had not, _repeat, NOT_, just been caught by Lloyd Irving. No such thing had happened. Ever. At all. NO.

"She seems a little stunned…" Came a delicate female voice from somewhere behind us. Another one I recognized all too well. Amusingly, I immediately wondered what that voice sounded like in Ruin Mode. Then logic took hold once more and my body and mind went back into extreme, super-duper, paranoid, panic mode.

"I'm f-fine! Thanks! Excuse me!" I exclaimed, pushing past the group of five and into the busy atmosphere of the Supplies Market. Hiding behind a stall, I waited until my breathing slowed down and then waited even longer, until my heart rate did the same. Finally, when I felt I could move again, I peeked out from my hiding place and looked out into the landing between markets.

The group was gone, obviously having moved farther up. I sighed, thankful that they hadn't decided to follow me, and moved toward a stand that sold the soap Mari had asked me to pick up. Apparently we were doing the fabrics on all the couches, beds, and so on today, and therefore needed a soap that wouldn't irritate the sensitive noses of the primped and spoiled nobles that frequented the castle.

I felt my body relax and I kept that thought in mind. _Right, my job… I work as a maid in the castle. There's no reason the Chosen's group would want me to join them… Naturally, Zelos will go, but…_ I paused, thinking about how lonely it would be once Zelos left. Who would be left to make jokes with? To playfully tease about getting all the girls before he did? Who would I ask when I couldn't make a decision on what to wear that day? Even sparring would become severely limited, Ezekiel only working with a battle staff very rarely.

"Hmph…" Suddenly in a slightly more grumpy mood, I paid for the bottle of soap, stuffed it in my shoulder bag and trudged up the stairs. I pondered on how I'd gotten so used to having Zelos around. I should've remembered the whole time he'd leave and go out traveling with the group and not gotten so attached to having him around. I reached the second landing just in time to hear one of the more irritating noblewomen exclaim something loudly.

"Ahhhhh! Master Zelos!" I paused on the stairs and lingered, just low enough to see what was going on, but remaining only barely visible by the people on the next landing. There was Zelos steadying himself. Colette had just thrown him! Oh, crap! I really was finding myself smack in the middle of the plot! Taking a look at the group that was standing there, I picked out Lloyd, Colette, Raine and Genis. I remembered how I'd counted five before and shook my head. It couldn't have been. After all, the whole Sylvaranti party was right there already.

"Whoa!" Zelos exclaimed, swaying slightly on his feet after being launched into the air. I chuckled, noting that the look that graced his features for a moment was… very un-Zelos. However, he quickly regained his composure and plastered a handsome and cocky grin onto his face. "Wow, that was surprise. You sure are strong, my little angel. You certainly startled me!" He chuckled to himself, as if he'd just told an amusing joke and approached the group once more. Lloyd seemed rather shaken up by the whole scene.

"Wh…who are you?…" the brunette asked and I noticed Zelos' gaze stiffen as it often did if he something rubbed him the wrong way.

"No offense, but I'm not interested in talking to guys." He said sharply, not noticing Genis turn his head away and mutter something under his breath. I couldn't remember what he said exactly, but Lloyd chuckled softly at the comment, so I had to imagine it was rude or about Zelos' self-proclaimed 'charm'. However, the redhead had already fixed his sights on Raine and took her hands with a dreamy smile. "Ohhh! What's your name, beautiful?" he asked charmingly and the half-elven woman deadpanned.

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine." She snapped, prompting Genis to look up.

"Hey! You copied Lloyd!" he exclaimed, grinning. Lloyd frowned slightly at this.

"… Now that I've heard someone say it, it sounds kind of arrogant." He said thoughtfully. I chuckled and shook my head, continuing to watch. Zelos raised his eyebrows and regarded the group with mild surprise.

"Oh, my, you don't know me? Well, well. I guess I still have a ways to go." He said, placing his hands on his hips. For a moment, it looked like Lloyd was about to reply with something dumb, which was expected of him. However, the group of noblewomen had moved past and were gesturing with giggles.

"Master Zelos! Let's go!" they exclaimed and the Chosen perked up, smiling handsomely at the ladies.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course. Well then, I'll see you again, my lovely lady, my cute little angel, and… uh… you other people." He said charmingly as he walked off with his gaggle of girls. I watched Lloyd's group talk amongst themselves for a few moments. Lloyd made a point of looking after Zelos in surprise, and I figured Raine had just pointed out the Chosen's exsphere. The group, however, then moved on. I sighed in relief, starting to ascend the stairs.

That had been a close call. If Zelos had seen me, he surely would have called me over, dragging me in front of that group again and reinforcing their knowledge of me. That was extremely dangerous for me. I didn't want to get dragged along on their epic journey! It was more than likely I'd die if I did! The thought sent shivers up my spine and I growled softly to myself, finally reaching the top of the stairs. I immediately noticed I couldn't see the traveling group anywhere and I thanked my luck for it, hurrying into the castle.

Needless to say, Mari wasn't happy that I was almost fifteen minutes late…

"Where have you been?" were the first words I heard as I reached the Maids' Quarters. I flinched and hung my head.

"Sorry, Mari. I lost track of time." I said, offering up the bottle of soap. The short, blonde woman sighed heavily, crossing her arms.

"Well… You did go and pick up what I asked you to, and you're not terribly late… Go get changed and we'll get to work." She said, and I nodded, hurrying off.

* * *

It was barely fifteen minutes after we began our work, scrubbing down one of the couches, that I saw Zelos enter the hall. I looked up and waved with a smile. The Chosen grinned and waved back. Then, just as he was about to leave, I remembered Zeke's letter.

"Ah! Mari, I have something I need to give to Zelos. May I be excused for a minute or two?" I asked, standing. The blonde narrowed her eyes suspiciously and I sighed. "It's not romantic. Trust me… Zeke asked me to deliver something for him." I explained. This made the woman relax a little and she nodded.

"Don't take too long." She said, returning to her work. I grinned and nodded my thanks, bounding toward the Chosen.

"Zelos! Hang on!" I exclaimed, approaching him. He turned and blinked, regarding my uniform with a chuckle.

"As cute as ever, hunny." He remarked and I stuck my tongue out at him before placing my hands on my hips.

"Got a second?"

"Sure, why?"

"I have something for you. Come with me." I said, tugging on the Chosen's hand and heading for the Maids' Quarters. Zelos chuckled and followed me, looking curious. As we reached the door, I opened it. "Hang on for a second." I said, slipping inside my changing room and looking for my bag. It was right where I'd hung it before and I grinned, pulling the letter out of it. Quickly, I hurried back to the door. "It's from Zeke. He wanted me to give it to you. Seems he forgot until just after you left this afternoon." I said, handing the letter to Zelos, who looked at it with interest before ripping it open. He took a moment to scan the page, before laughing softly to himself and shaking his head.

"Zeke, you're horrible… making her deliver this…" he mumbled to himself, and I frowned, standing on tiptoe to try and see the letter.

"What is it?" I asked, curiously. Zelos, however, moved the letter out of my line of sight.

"Ah, ah. I'll talk to Zeke about a couple things first, and then I'll show it to you." He said with a grin. I sighed and pouted, crossing my arms. Not fair at all… "Anyways, darlin', I gotta go. The higher ups need me." He said, ruffling my hair affectionately before turning around and heading down the hall. I watched him go, frowning. What could have been in that letter? _I am definitely going to have to question Zeke later…_ I thought to myself as I returned to where Mari and I had been working. The blonde greeted me and handed me a brush to continue working.

"What did you deliver to the Chosen?" she asked curiously after a few minutes of scrubbing. I looked up from the spot on the couch I'd been trying fruitlessly to get out and sighed.

"Damn couch… A letter. Ezekiel said he needed to give it to Zelos today, so he asked me to give it to him." I said, returning to scrubbing. "I don't really understand, though. When Zelos read the letter, he laughed to himself and said something weird about having me deliver it…" I told her, stretching. "I think it was about me, and that worries me. What could they have to talk about me that they'd have to keep behind my back?" I turned to look at Mari once more, hopeful for some input. I, of course, had my suspicions, mostly about fate trying to integrate me into the plot, but when Zelos was set to leave later today with the Sylvaranti group, I really wasn't sure. Mariposa stopped scrubbing and looked ponderous for a moment.

"Hmm… Maybe Zeke wants to ask you out or something?" she suggested playfully. Her comment, however, was rewarded with only a chuckle.

"We're talking about the same Ezekiel here, right? Motherly, fun, _gay_ Ezekiel?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip. "Come on, Mari. He's already got a boyfriend." The blonde woman nodded, sighing.

"I suppose you're right." She replied, shrugging and going back to her work. I returned to my own work, scrubbing down the couch with a small huff. As I worked diligently, I tried to fit all the pieces together. Lloyd and the others were in the city, which meant it was only a matter of time before they reached the castle. If Mariposa and I were still working in the main halls, we might see them coming through with Presea. I knew they probably wouldn't recognize me, as they'd be too determined to make it to the King's chambers where Zelos and the Pope would be… Then… what happened again? I closed my eyes, scanning back to that part of the video game. Oh! Zelos would meet them in the Crimson Chamber and it would ultimately be decided that Zelos would travel with them as a sort of guardian. Then they'd leave for Sybak… I looked down at the floor, letting my shoulders slump. This really sucked. If I did end up sucked into all this plot business, my life would be in danger, and my generally lazy and carefree lifestyle would be uprooted. If I didn't, I'd stay with Zeke in Meltokio and end up missing Zelos like hell. It was as if, even though I had no romantic interest in the Chosen, he had found a spot in my heart to reside. Never in a million years had I thought I considered someone like Zelos one of my best friends, but I was pretty sure that was how I now felt. Life without him around would be… boring.

"Hey…"

But then what could I do, right?

"Faith!"

Best just to live with the hand I was dealt, no matter how depressing it was.

"Hey! Hunny!" The voice cut through the silence in which I'd been brooding and I glanced up in surprise, blinking dumbly.

"Hunh?" I said, looking up at Zelos. "What is it?" I asked, standing and brushing the dust off my apron. The red-headed man grinned.

"Go get changed and come with me. I want you to meet someone." He said happily. "Dear Mari, I'm stealing Faith for a while. If she's not back today, please blame me, not her." He spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone to my work partner, who giggled and flushed.

"Anything you'd like, Chosen…" she replied, looking away coyly. Zelos simply grinned and ushered me out of the hall, while I did my best not to feel nervous. Had I missed the group coming through the castle because I'd been too wrapped up in my brooding? What was going to happen now? Reaching the Maids' quarters, I slipped inside and into my changing room while Zelos waited on the couch. It took me a matter of minutes to remove the complicated maid uniform and I sighed in relief as I slipped back into my regular clothes. These were _much_ better that that damn outfit I was forced to wear while working… I re-emerged from the changing room, wrapping my poi (which I'd taken to carrying around with me, just to be safe) around my shoulders, the handles hanging right where I could easily reach them if a tussle ever broke out.

"So, now what?" I asked hesitantly. Zelos stood, looking slightly more serious than before.

"I was going to wait until tonight to sit down with you and Zeke about it, but this might just be an opportunity we'll want to take." He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small item. My stomach acid screeched and began to climb up my esophagus, making me tremble and feel sick as I saw what it was that was sitting in the Chosen's gloved palm.

An exsphere.

"Wh… That's…" I spoke slowly and dumbly, finding my voice had disappeared completely. "E… Exsphere?" Zelos chuckled and held it up to the light. The gem itself glowed red, like any normal exsphere would.

"Yep. It's Ezekiel's, but… he doesn't fight anymore. Not often, anyways…" he said, tipping the parasite jewel and the golden crest that it was embedded in into my hand. "It was in that envelope, along with a letter, saying that he wants you to get outside the city walls. You're obviously not remembering much by being cooped up here, and I agree with him completely. You need to get out and see more of Tethe'Alla to help jog your memory… and I've got the perfect way to do it. I had a note sent to Ezekiel about it and I'm sure he'll be fine with you coming along." He stopped and frowned. "Hunny, are you… okay? You look like you're about to…" Zelos was cut off as my stomach churned and I retched, dropping the exsphere on the carpeted floor and bolting for the bathroom.

As I heaved the contents of my stomach out of me and into the toilet, I moaned. Zelos wanted me to come. Zeke wanted me to go… They both were forcing me headlong into the plot. What would happen if I refused? Obviously, I'd have to provide a valid reason as to why I didn't want to take a chance at 'regaining my memory'. Any excuse I came up with would probably only garner suspicion on both mens' parts… I began to feel trapped and helpless as another hard retch sent more of the food in my body out and I felt a hand on my back. Zelos rubbed my back and shoulder blades gently as he waited for my fit of sickness to end. Finally, after a few minutes that seemed altogether too long, my stomach settled itself and I groaned, sitting up and wiping my mouth with the cloth that rested on the counter.

"You all good?" the Chosen asked, both a hint of compassion and a hint of impatience evident in his voice and eyes. After a few moments, I nodded and smiled weakly.

"S-Sorry. Don't know what came over me…" I replied quietly and pushed myself back onto my feet. Sadly, I knew exactly what had come over me, but I would never admit it. If I did, Zelos would think I was crazy. I mean _'Oh, by the way, Zelos. I'm from another world that knows everything that happens in yours at this period in time, because it's a video game. You don't have video games, but they're really fun. You'd probably like them.'_ Yeah, no. That was a one way ticket to a loony bin, or worse, jail. I moved out to the main room again and picked up the discarded gem. Zelos followed, the impatience in his expression gone. I stared at the jewel for a few moments, almost feeling afraid of it. "An exsphere, huh… How do I equip it?" I asked, holding it up. The Chosen took it and looked me over.

"Where's it gonna go?" he asked, tilting his head. "Hand is a pretty typical place, but your gloves are pretty open. You could wear it at your collarbone like me… or maybe in a less noticeable place…? Hmm…" the male circled me and made me squirm uncomfortably.

"Argh! I'll wear it like yours, then! My shirt will cover it anyways!" I exclaimed with a growl. "Just… stop. You're making me both dizzy and nervous with your vulture-like circling!" I exclaimed, glaring. Zelos chuckled and stepped forward as I undid the top clasp at my shirt, exposing my neck and collarbone.

"Good choice, Hunny." He said with an amused chuckle, holding the exsphere up. "This may feel a little weird…" I shivered in response as the jewel's crest was pressed gently against my upper chest, in the center of my collarbone. The metal was cold, and I could feel the crest bonding with my skin, the gem resting inside it.

"Yech…" I grumbled as Zelos removed his hand and the exsphere remained. "That felt so gross…" I shivered again and looked down. The exsphere sat bonded to my chest and I frowned slightly as I noticed something. Looking over the placement of the gem, I noticed it was a bit lower than Zelos', resting just above what cleavage I sort of had. "Zelos…" I said with a growl.

"Yes, Hunny?"

"Remind me to smack you later for trying to cop a feel while putting this damn thing on me."

"Eheheh. Whoops…"

* * *

A/N: A bit of a longer chapter, and an intense ooone! Ohmy! Yes, Zelos intended to go with the group as soon as they told him they were from Sylvarant and the letter was read. I know it's a bit confusing to understand, but if it clears it up at all, I shall explain.

Faith did indeed miss the group sneaking through the castle, and Zelos came to get her _after_ the Sylvaranti party had given the King the letter and it had been read over by all the parties in the room. Then, Zelos came down and got Faith while Lloyd's group was moved to and waiting in the Crimson Chamber. Next chapter includes the Crimson Chamber scene, and following events.

OH! And I have a drawing of Faith, if anybody would like to see what she looks like! Just ask over a review and I'll send you the link to it.

Zeke: You guys know the drill. Go click that review button. Pleeease?


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Wow, life has been busy. What, with a huge sickness that knocked me off my feet for two whole weeks starting right at the end of my local anime convention, (there were ToS cosplayers! I spotted a Colette, a Raine and a Sheena! Eeee!) I've been dealing with a lot. The convention itself was fun. It's not huge, but it's not little, either. 1100 people attended this year, even though it was Yukinocon instead of Tsukinocon. (Lots of snow this year. Very much a first trying to run around in cosplay in the snow~)

Alright, on to what you guys actually come to this for. The story itself. o3o

* * *

I hated going into 'child mode'…

It was a bad habit I'd had ever since I was a small kid. When I was out of my comfort zone, or nervous about something, I practically walked on the heels of whoever was nearby that knew what they were doing. I acted like a small, lost kid in a department store, really and it was ridiculous, sometimes. Hell, if it got really bad, I would often grip the back of the person I was following's shirt. Thankfully, I managed to refrain from gripping the back of Zelos' pink vest as we ascended a flight of stairs, and climbed into the higher, more important areas of the castle. Zelos gave me a small reassuring smile at one point, ruffling my hair.

"Just follow my lead, got it? We'll have you out of these city walls and remembering your past before you know it." He said softly as we arrived at the door to the Crimson Chamber. Outside waited two stern-looking guards and a man who was dressed lavishly and I recognized immediately as the Pope. The man stared at me in disdain and I had to fight down the urge to glare at him. For what reason did he have to look at me like that?

"_This_ is the errand you had to run, Chosen One?" he asked conceitedly and Zelos placed his hands on his hips, smiling charmingly as if the Pope wasn't looking at him with the same amount of fondness that Mariposa did at that dead cockroach she'd found under the sink a week ago.

"Why, yes. It was. Now, shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the door with his cocky expression still plastered convincingly on his face. Placing a hand on the handle, he pushed it open.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, travelers from Sylvarant." The Pope said with that same tone of arrogance. I immediately looked over the odd ragtag group that waited in the room. Obviously, the one in red with the unruly brown hair was Lloyd. Now that I could take a good look at him, I saw that he was lean and handsome. He glanced back at me, curiosity and recognition in his eyes and I realized he remembered me from earlier that day in the square. Quickly, I averted my eyes from the protagonist's chocolate gaze, not wanting to seem rude, and looked at the rest of the group.

Genis was standing in front of a chair nearby, which suggested he'd probably been sitting in it before our entrance. His silver hair stuck up at cute angles and his blue eyes were striking, revealing much more intelligence than your average twelve-year old. He had his hands on his hips and he wore a frown as he regarded the Tethe'Allans in the room.

Raine was just as striking as her younger brother, her orange outfit draped about her body. She was staring warily at me and those I'd entered with, especially the Pope, who looked none too pleased. She gave off an air like a teacher and I looked away almost immediately as she looked at me, feeling nervous.

Of course, off to one side were Colette and Presea. Both stood side by side, staring blankly at the rest of the room. It was almost frightening how much they seemed like statues and I shivered instinctively, stepping behind Zelos as if to shield myself from them.

"Did you read the letter?" Lloyd asked, standing and looking determined. The one to answer him was my companion and shield, Zelos.

"Yeah. We did. You want to use Tethe'Allan technology to save the Chosen from your side, right?" he asked in a business-like tone I'd never heard Zelos use before. It prompted me to look at him curiously, and the gaze I spotted in the redhead's eyes was calculating, as if trying to decide whether siding with the Sylvaravti or with the Pope was the wiser decision. However, I knew he'd side with the Sylvaranti. He had to, otherwise the whole plot would be destroyed… right?

"Our Chosen, Colette, has lost her soul." Lloyd said, glancing wistfully at the blonde haired girl who gave no notice of him and simply continued staring blankly before her. "If she stays this way… she'll die." The sorrow in the brunette's eyes was overwhelming and I felt my sympathy go out to him. However, the tender moment was ruined by the Pope snorting arrogantly and waving his hand as if to dismiss Lloyd's comment.

"As long as your Chosen one lives, our world teeters on the brink of destruction. I can't allow her to survive…" he snarled and the two knights stepped forward, readying their weapons. I saw darkness rise in Genis' eyes as he clenched his fists and grit his teeth.

"It's just like Raine said…" he growled, and Lloyd stepped forward.

"Please, wait! Just hear us out!" he exclaimed, holding up his hands. Before he could continue, however, the Pope lifted his hand.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! Get them!" he exclaimed, and the two knights rushed Colette, looking ready to kill. I stepped further behind Zelos, gripping the back of his vest and hiding my eyes. Either those men would succeed in killing Colette and the whole story I'd known would be destroyed, or she would likely kill them out of self-defense…

_Clang!_

The sound of metal on metal echoed around the room and I carefully peeked out. Colette had effortlessly blocked the mens' spears with her chakrams. She spun quickly, knocking both men back. I yelped as one of them practically flew at Zelos and I, but the redheaded Chosen simply pulled me by the back of my shirt and stepped out of the way, freeing the guard's path to crash into the wall with a loud grunt. The Tethe'Allan Chosen gave an irritated huff, running his hand through his hair.

"Did you not listen to me the first ten times I told you, Pope? These strangers have exspheres. Of course they're tough enough to fight off a couple guards." He said in a voice that dared the Pope to respond. It was Genis that piped up with a small chuckle, however.

"You're not as dumb as you look, buddy." He said to Zelos, shaking his head. The redhead glared back at him, placing his hands on his hips.

"Impudent little brat…" he snapped back at the half-elf boy, which earned him a short glare from Raine, who crossed her arms.

"What would you all say to making a deal?" she asked diplomatically. All parties looked at the woman questioningly, and the Pope narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What do you mean by… a deal?" he asked, and Raine sighed.

"Colette lost her soul because she was being reborn as an angel in order to save Sylvarant, correct? If we save her and she does not became an angel, the Journey or Regeneration will not be completed and Sylvarant will not be saved." She explained and I felt Zelos bristle with interest.

"I get it… So if we save your Chosen from becoming an angel, we'll be saving Tethe'Alla's prosperity as well?" he asked, and Raine nodded.

"Precisely." The Pope, however, shook his head.

"That means you'll be abandoning Sylvarant entirely. Can you turn your back on your own people?" he asked, and he received a nod in response.

"I don't really care." Raine replied, crossing her arms. She then noticed the appalled gazes she was receiving from Genis and Lloyd and turned around before either could protest. "We came all this way to save Colette, did we not?" Lloyd looked hesitant for a moment, but another glance at the empty shell that was Colette seemed to steel him and he nodded.

"Alright. That's fine." He said, nodding firmly. Genis glanced at the floor as Lloyd spoke.

"Can we really just turn our backs on Sylvarant like that…? I mean…" The older brunette placed a hand on Genis' shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"The Professor is right, Genis. Right now, we need to focus on saving Colette. Otherwise, what was the point in coming to Tethe'Alla in the first place?" He asked, and the half-elven boy sighed softly, nodding. Raine nodded, satisfied.

"Then our decision is to save Colette in this world and forget about Sylvarant." She said in a finalizing tone. Lloyd nodded, though I spotted the hesitation that still lingered, despite his giving the okay.

"Please, tell us how we can save her…" he said, staring at the Pope and Zelos determinedly. Zelos sighed, placing his hands on his hips.

"Hey, Pope. Why don't Faith and I tag along with these people? I mean, if they don't go back to Sylvarant, then they can't complete the regeneration ritual, so having us along to keep an eye on them should be satisfactory even for you, right?" I had to suppress a chuckle at the way the Pope bristled and glared slightly, before nodding.

"If… If you insist on it, Chosen One."

"Oh, trust me. I do." Zelos replied in a no-nonsense tone, and Genis gave a small half-smile.

"Then… Colette will be saved after all?" he asked, and the redhead Chosen shrugged.

"We'll do all that we can for now. I swear on my name as Zelos, the Chosen of Tethe'Alla." He replied, giving a small nod, and the Pope huffed before giving in.

"Fine. You have permission to travel in Tethe'Alla, but only under the supervision of the Chosen and his… companion." I realized the Pope was referring to me and I blinked. Somehow, I'd managed to make it through this whole conversation as an observer, and finally being referred to felt strange. I felt like I wanted to retreat even further behind Zelos, but I remained where I was, nodding slightly.

"… We don't have any other choice, so fine. It's a deal." Lloyd replied, glancing at me once again before turning his attention back to the others. Zelos grinned and clapped his hands together, tilting his head.

"Alright, then it's settled! It's getting late today, so we should probably head out tomorrow. Shall we all rest up at my manor for tonight and head out in the morning?" he suggested, smiling charmingly, and the Sylvaranti looked at each other, reading each others' expressions briefly before nodding.

"That sounds fine." Lloyd replied and Zelos grinned, turning for the door.

"Then let's be on our way." He said, and I followed him closely as we made our exit past a rather grumpy-looking Pope. As we headed down the hall, I felt a pair of eyes on my back and looked around, spotting Lloyd staring at me curiously.

"Can… I help you?" I asked, tilting my head and the protagonist smiled, holding out his gloved hand.

"We were never properly introduced down at the square." He said as I took his hand while we walked, and we shook. "I'm Lloyd. Lloyd Irving." He introduced himself, and I nodded.

"Faith Bentley. Nice to meet you, Lloyd." I replied, noticing the others making their approach as he reached the main hall and out the front door to the castle. Once we were outside, Zelos stopped up and turned around.

"You two are thinking ahead. We should definitely introduce ourselves. I'm Zelos, but you guys obviously knew that already. Now, putting aside the two guys, this gorgeous beauty is Raine, right? Which means this cool little cutie is Colette… and who's this?" he asked, glancing at Presea. Genis narrowed his eyes slightly and I couldn't help but smile as he responded firmly.

"Presea. She helped us sneak into the castle." He explained as I spotted him inch just a bit closer to the pink-haired girl. Zelos blinked.

"She's not from Sylvarant?" he asked, and Presea responded this time, her voice soft and low, and completely devoid of emotion.

"… Ozette." She replied blankly and the redhead raised his eyebrows.

"Ozette! That village out in the boondoc-… Ah… I mean… er… out in the forest? That's so cruel. You're being used by these uncivilized barbarians!" I couldn't help but force back a snort. Nice catch, Zelos. The redheaded male gave a melodramatic pose and I rolled my eyes. Out of the corner of my gaze, I saw Raine and Genis do the same while Lloyd glared and clenched his fists.

"Hey! Who're you calling barbarians?" he exclaimed and Zelos simply laughed good-naturedly, shaking off the teen's anger.

"Oh, relax. I was just playing. Don't get so mad. Especially since I managed to get you permission to get into the Imperial Research Academy in Sybak." He replied, shrugging. Lloyd's expression softened and he loosened up a bit, nodding.

"Not bad, Zelos." He said, placing his hands on his hips. "Since you know the girls, I'm Lloyd, and that's Genis." He gestured toward the half-elf who narrowed his eyes at Zelos. The Chosen nodded, looking uninterested.

"Charmed, I'm sure." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Now, hunny. Don't remain an enigma to these barbarians." He said playfully, easing me forward. I blinked and then nodded, realizing that I'd made no attempt to introduce myself

"A-Ah… Yeah. Right. I'm Faith Bentley. Nice to meet you all." I said, my stomach twisting slightly. I hated meeting new people under formal situations like this. One on one introductions were so much easier… However, the conscious and present members of the group all smiled amicably, introducing themselves again and shaking my hand. By the time what I had dubbed the biggest awkward-fest of my life was done, Zelos was already strolling down the steps of the castle, heading for the gardens that led to the Nobles' District.

"My place is this way. Shall we?" he asked, gesturing and the others nodded, following. After a while, I sidled up next to Zelos and frowned at him, speaking in a quiet tone.

"Why are you dragging me along in this, Zelos?" I asked quietly, staring up at the carefree male, who simply looked at me with a note of confusion.

"What do you mean? Why shouldn't I?" he asked, tilting his head. "It'll be an opportunity to get you as far as Sybak, at least. Maybe some of your memories will come back in that time… and besides. Doesn't a life of adventure sound more fun to you than sitting on your ass in one city, cleaning rich peoples' rooms all your life? Does to me." With that, I could tell the conversation was over and that this was one of those 'but thou must' things that often happened in video games.

God, how I hated the 'but thou must's…

As we reached the Nobles' District and the fountain came into view, I hesitated.

"Zelos?" I asked, pulling the male from an attempt at flirting with Raine and failing horribly. Eager for the distraction from his failure, the Chosen turned around.

"Yes, hunny?" he asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders in a show-offy manner. I glared slightly and pushed the offending limb off before continuing.

"I'm going to go tell Zeke what's going on, okay? I can't leave without at least letting him know." Zelos' expression softened slightly and he nodded, pausing.

"Alright, you go let him know. We'll be at my place." He said, and I smiled softly.

"Thanks. See you guys in a bit." I said, waving and jogging down the road that led to Ezekiel's manor. The jog took barely two minutes, and within barely any time at all, I ascended the front steps and stopped at the door, knocking before turning the handle quietly. "Zeke?" I called out, stepping inside the manor. A clattering from the kitchen revealed that the male in question was cooking once again. I should've expected that…

"Hm? Hey, Faith!" Zeke's reply came and I smiled, closing the door behind me and stepping into the warm kitchen. Ezekiel was bustling about the kitchen, making what looked like another Kirima cake. He paused in his bustling, however, to look at me. "You're off work early, today." He noted, smiling and tilting his head. "Something happen?" I nodded.

"Where to even begin…?" I asked, as I sat down at the table. Sensing my wonderment, Zeke sat as well, wiping his hands on his pants.

"What's going on?" he asked, and I took a deep breath before explaining the day's events to him. From bumping into the Sylvaranti group in the square to encountering them again and watching Zelos interact with them. Finally, I moved to the biggest part of the story, telling Zeke how Zelos had helped me equip the exsphere, (Zeke glared protectively upon my showing him where on my body it had been placed, and I had to suppress a giggle. Zelos was in trou~ble.) then led me up to the Crimson Chamber to talk to the Sylvaranti group again. I finished with how it had been decided that Zelos and I would go along with the group to Sybak to research on how to save Colette. All the time, Zeke sat rather still, taking in the story. Finally, he shook his head.

"I knew that idiot could deliver, but I never thought he'd give you an opportunity like this…" he said softly, standing. I blinked, frowning.

"You… You think I should actually go?" I asked, and the emerald eyes that gazed at me smiled softly.

"Yeah. I do… It'll be safe if you're with Zelos, and you need to get outside the city walls." Zeke explained, wiping his hands once more. "Now, what do you need to take with you?" he asked, smiling.

* * *

It took us barely an hour to pick out the things I was taking with me. On my bed sat a small collection of clothing, including my purple tunic and black pants, and my nightgown. My poi were resting on the bed and I sighed, staring at them long and hard.

"… Can't believe I'm getting dragged into this…" I mumbled softly, as I looked about the room, eyes resting on the closet. Ezekiel chuckled and ruffled my hair affectionately.

"I know, it's a bit hard to swallow, but think of it as a field trip. After all, Sybak isn't all that far away." He said, moving to the other side of the room. "I'll be right back, okay? Going to go check on that cake…" I nodded, letting him leave before moving to the closet swiftly and pulling aside a few pairs of shoes. The loose floorboard was easy to pull out of the floor and the small chamber below still contained my old things… Was it dangerous to take something from my home with me? Maybe, but… if I didn't have a memento, what if I started to forget about home? Granted, my families' faces were gone already, but I had to have something I could take with my to keep the memory alive anyway…

I pulled out my shoulderbag, inspecting its contents and smiling as I found my sketchbooks. I hadn't drawn in a long time… Perhaps I should take my books with me? I carefully ripped the front pages off, leaving them and their incriminating barcodes and brands in the secret compartment. Tossing the books and my tattered pencils and erasers, (they were the artist kind with no lettering in them, thank goodness) on the bed, I continued rooting through my things. I unearthed my cell phone and stared at it for a few moments, before deciding to leave that behind. However, my house key would be safe enough, wouldn't it? After all, it looked enough like the keys they had here, and I could keep it hidden in my bag. Picking up the small metal object, I slipped it and the drawing utensils into my rucksack before beginning to fold my clothes. Once folded, they went into the bottom of my bag. My sketchbooks were slid in carefully at the back so as not to damage them.

Moments later, Ezekiel returned to the room, carrying not only a plate with a slice of cake on it, but two drawstring bags with him.

"Here." He said, passing my the plate with the cake and I smiled, picking up the fork and taking a bite. I hummed contently as I chewed and Zeke simply chuckled, sliding both bags into the larger rucksack. "One of those has an extra few thousand gald, and the other has a small collection of Gels and some Life Bottles, just in case you end up in a pinch." I stared at him for a moment, swallowing, before putting the plate down and standing.

"Zeke…" I bit my lip and wiped my eyes, hugging the male tightly. I felt warm and protective arms circle me and I smiled, squeezing the redhead tightly. "You're so amazing, Zeke. Thank you…" I said softly with a sniffle. The man simply chuckled softly and held me tightly, petting my hair comfortingly. After a few moments, he pulled away.

"Alright. Eat your cake while I take your bag down to the door. I tried to recreate the recipe like you do it, but it's nowhere near good enough yet… I'm going to miss your baking while you're gone."

* * *

"I'm hooome~!" I called playfully as I opened the door to Zelos' manor. Granted, I'd only been to his home a few times, but Sebastian knew me (and embarrassingly referred to me as Lady Bentley. What was I, royalty?) and I felt comfortable enough to just walk in. Dropping my bag by the door and wiping my boots on the mat, which was as elegant as the rest of the Chosen's manor, I proceeded into the main living room. Zelos was sprawled on the couch, dozing and I chuckled, shaking my head. _Perfect~_ I thought to myself as I tiptoed closer and turned, lingering for a moment, before flopping back onto the couch and, subsequently, the pervert Chosen lounging on it.

"Uwaagh! Oof…! What the hell? Faaaaith…" Zelos whined as he was brought swiftly back to the realm of the living and began to flail pathetically. I giggled as I stood and waited for the now pouting redhead to right himself.

"That's what you get for leaving yourself open, silly." I said with a grin as I flopped back onto the newly freed space on the couch. Zelos sighed and smiled, punching me gently in the shoulder.

"You're evil." He said, shaking his head and I simply grinned back.

"Most likely. So, where are the others?" I asked, looking around. Other than the two of us, there was nobody to be seen. Zelos shrugged.

"I gave them all rooms upstairs, so they're probably relaxing and plotting away or something." He replied with a shrug, gazing at the ceiling. "Perhaps I should go check up on the ladies~"

"Perverted idiot."

"Ouch. That hurts coming from you, hunny~"

"Don't call me that! You _know_ I hate it…"

Zelos chuckled and shrugged, ruffling my hair and making me scowl and wonder briefly why everybody did that to me? Okay, well, only Zeke and Zelos did it, but two was enough! Honestly!

"Well, I'm going to head upstairs anyway. I need a shower if we're going to be leaving bright and early tomorrow. You should probably make sure to get some rest tonight, too. Your room's the one right next to mine~" the Chosen said playfully before standing. I glared half-heartedly before sighing.

"Yeah, yeah. I suppose. Hey, do you mind if I go use the music room for a bit first?" I asked, glancing at the clock. "I'll stop before it gets too late, but I love it in there." Zelos simply shrugged.

"I don't see why not. You know how to treat all the instruments in there." He said, turning and heading for the staircase, obviously eager for his shower. I nodded, smiling.

"Thanks, Zelly~" I shot back, and Zelos paused, halfway up the stairs, pouting.

"Oh, come on. Vengeance just doesn't suit you, Faith." He said and I giggled.

"Then don't call me hunny." I replied, turning and heading down the hall that headed toward my favorite room in Zelos' manor. Barely a minute later, I was pushing open a large wooden door and I emerged into a comfortably-sized room with wide windows that allowed the sunset to pour in. I smiled, turning on one of the lamps by the door and looking around. It was as immaculate as ever, thanks to Sebastian and Zelos' numerous maids' work. Each surface sparkled, without a speck of dust to give warning to neglect. I smiled, looking over the contents of the room. Why Zelos had a music room in his manor was beyond me, as the Chosen hadn't exhibited any great musical prowess to me specifically in all the time I'd known him. However, one could always suppose that as a child, being born a noble, he'd had to learn the art of music.

Stepping across the room lightly, I sat on the long piano bench that rested humbly before the huge, old-fashioned looking piano. Smiling and lifting the shelf, I ran my fingers across the keys before setting my hands down on them and gently beating out a few chords. I'd never taken professional lessons or anything, but I could play well enough by ear, at least. Now, however, I began to play with care a tune I'd spent months learning, back at home.

It was Kratos' Theme, but this particular version I'd heard on Youtube, and the person playing it had turned it into a waltz. It always calmed me to play it, and right now, I felt I needed the help to stay calm more than ever. My fingers flew over the keys carefully, making sure to hit the notes softly, but with precision. It had taken me weeks of practice to learn this song, but now, I was quite glad I had. Although, it wasn't as if the piano was the only thing I could kind of play. I knew how to half-ass plenty of other instruments as well.

Three years learning viola before I dropped out of strings due to it interfering with my social life. I could play confidently, but I couldn't read the music.

I had basic knowledge of the chords of a guitar, and the ability to put them together into a song, though the strumming usually hurt my fingers, as I had had a horrible habit of chewing my cuticles back home.

I knew my basic rhythms on a drum kit, as well, though there were no drum kits as far as I'd seen in Tethe'Alla. Nothing that would give hint to rock music, that was for sure.

I sighed and stopped, starting a different song. This one had been another remix of a ToS song back home. A piano version of Old Familiar Scent of Iselia… or at least, I was pretty sure that was what the track itself was called. This had taken me just as long to learn as the last one I'd been playing. Plenty of hitting replay on my iTunes and sitting in front of my electric keyboard with a pen and my iPod nearby.

I sighed softly as I played, feeling much more relaxed in front of the piano than I had a mere twenty minutes ago, packing my things. I wished had chimes nearby when I recalled that this point in the version I was playing had them in the background. However, the music room lacked a set of chimes, and so I made due with what I could, simply imagining them.

Finally, I came to the end of the song and with a small flourish, I finished playing and lifted my hands from the keys.

"You're quite good."

I jumped in my seat and nearly missed banging my knee on the underside of the piano as I did. Looking over at the door, I saw that Raine was standing in the doorway… How long had she been there?

"Oh, uh, thanks." I said embarrassedly, lowering my hands and my head modestly. I wasn't used to praise on my music. Especially since my parents hadn't favored me deciding to draw and play music instead of study and get ahead in school. Admittedly, perhaps if I'd listened to them, I wouldn't have been three months from graduation day with six courses to still finish and a train wreck of failed courses in my wake. However, that was in the past. I looked at Raine and tilted my head. "Can you play?" I received a shake of the head in response as the healer stepped properly into the room.

"No, although I've always wanted to learn." She said, coming to stand closer. I shifted on the bench to make room, but she simply remained standing and leaned on the piano slightly. "… Everything here seems so much nicer for the rich." She said softly and I nodded.

"It really is. Those who are born into nobility are lucky." I admitted, closing the shelf and locking the keys away once more. I knew about the plain residential area and the slums down at the bottom of the stairs in Meltokio, but I'd never had reason to go down there, and frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted to. People up in the Nobles' District were always so harsh about half-elves, and I didn't want to see the horrible truth of the painful living habits the poor species was forced into. Granted, that meant I was shutting my own eyes to the problem and hiding from it, but… Sensing my general thoughts, Raine sighed.

"I take it you know how the people farther down live? We got lost for a while looking for the inn when we got here and ended up in the slums. I feel horrible for all the half-elves who are prosecuted here…" she said softly and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It is pretty horrible. I've… never actually been down there, but I work alongside some half-elves in the castle and they're really treated badly. I hear they even make less than the human staff." I admitted, sighing. "I could never treat another person that way, human, elf, or half-elf. Everyone has feelings and it's our job as sentient beings to respect that and treat them well." Raine seemed surprised by my short speech and she sat on the bench. I was surprised, myself. I didn't usually speak that way, even in serious situations. Normally, I was the type to clam up and let others do the talking, like I had in the Crimson Chamber today. When I came back to the present moment and glanced at Raine, I received a look that was hard to read, but seemed to be positive.

"That's a very… mature way of looking at things. You're, what, fifteen? Sixteen?" she asked, eyeing me up and down.

"Seventeen." I replied, sighing bitterly and cursing my small stature. "I'm a bit small for my age, aren't I?" The woman chuckled softly and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, for seventeen, your maturity when it comes to other people is impressive. I think it's wonderful for you to be able to express care towards all creatures, no matter how those around you may think or act. It shows you have little care for what others think of you, though that in itself can be both a gift and a curse." Raine explained with a soft smile. "Now, I believe it's getting late. Zelos actually asked if I would come down here to check on you and make sure you were heading upstairs to shower and get ready for bed." I blinked as I looked over at the nearby grandfather clock and the roman numerals around the edge of its face that showed it was nearly nine.

"Oh. You have a point…" I said, standing hesitantly. I didn't really want to leave the music room yet, but if other people were gearing down for bed, then I probably should too. I didn't want to disturb anyone with my playing. Raine followed my example and stood as well. Before I knew it, I'd extinguished the lamp and we were heading upstairs, toward the string of bedrooms.

"By the way, Faith. Why are you going on this trip with us? I would have imagined that Zelos alone would have been plenty of supervision for our group." I heard Raine say, though she was ascending the stairs ahead of me so I couldn't see her face.

"Honestly? I'm going because I have amnesia about my life from up until very recently… I awoke in the woods around this area with no knowledge of where I was and only my name as identification… Zelos and my caretaker both feel that getting me outside the city's walls might help jog my memory, since I don't seem to be remembering much in here." I said solemnly, as we reached the top of the stairs, and I saw Raine's shocked face. Obviously, if she'd been expecting any answer of significance, it wasn't that.

"I-I see. That must have been hard for you." She replied softly and I shrugged. It was strange how my amnesia lie became easier and easier to tell with every person I told it to.

"It's hard to miss what you don't remember." I gave the 'elven' woman a sad smile before turning down the hallway to my own suite, right next to Zelos', and leaving her to stare at me in surprise and sympathy. Truth be told, I could handle the surprise, but the sympathy I'd rather skip. It wasn't doing her any good to feel for me. Especially, since I was lying about it. However, being a convincing liar, nobody knew any better. Not even Zeke and Zelos, my two older brother figures of the past few weeks. Stepping into my room and flopping down on the bed, I glared at my pillow. How I hated having to lie about all of this. However, I knew I couldn't let anybody find out I was from another world.

First, imagine trying to explain that one. I knew I'd get thrown in either jail or an asylum pretty quickly. (If they even had asylums here…)

Second, did I really want to challenge what seemed to be the 'but thou must' gods that were pushing me into the plot? I cursed quietly, stretching out on my comfortable bed as I decided that I'd pretty much stepped in it when I befriended Zelos those few weeks ago. Hadn't that been my first mistake? I should've realized that knowing a main character would immediately put me within a stone's throw from the plot itself. I yawned widely and stared at the ceiling. Tomorrow, I'd have to leave this haven I'd found and start traveling with the group, and since once we reached Sybak, Zelos would become an outcast, hunted by the Pope and his papal knights by agreeing to come back to Sylvarant, there was no hope of me returning either, since the Pope knew my face and I would likely become one of the accused along with the rest of the party…

As my eyes grew heavy, I had a cynical thought.

Perhaps this was karma, deciding that it had had enough of fangirls like me? Perhaps, from now on, when a fangirl got too hardcore about the series she loved, she'd get dumped into said series so she could just be eaten by the next lucky monster that wandered her way?

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised…

* * *

A/N: And… done! Goddess, this sat on my computer forever! First interactions with the party are complete. The chapter's actually a bit shorter than I thought it'd be, but it leaves room for thought on how the journey will go when the party leaves in the morning~

Next chapter will contain traveling, perchance some hilarity and achey feet, and a huuuuge bridge.

Oh! Don't forget to review, as well! It only takes a minute to let me know what you think of my chapters and it really does brighten my day!


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